TORONTO - Plenary Properties has signed a contract with the province to design, build, finance and maintain a new data centre for the Ontario government. The new facility, for the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services, will provide a major upgrade to Ontario's information technology support capacity.

Plenary's contract covers a 30-year maintenance period. At the end of the 30-year maintenance period, Plenary Properties will have been paid approximately $637.2 million for the construction of the facility, building maintenance, lifecycle repair and renewal and project financing. In today's dollars this is equivalent to $352.0 million.

The Plenary Properties team includes: Plenary Group, Deutsche Bank, PCL Constructors, Modern Niagara, Plan Group, Adamson Associates, Smith and Anderson and Johnson Controls. Construction is expected to begin in spring 2008.

A Value for Money (VFM) report on the project will be posted on Infrastructure

Ontario's website, along with the project agreement, within weeks. This third-party VFM assessment identifies the benefits or value derived on this project as compared to a traditional procurement approach. The VFM report summarizes the estimated total

project costs including the fixed cost of the contracts with Plenary Properties, equipment, transaction and other ancillary costs.

Upon completion of construction, the contract with Plenary Properties will be assigned to the Ontario Realty Corporation, the government's real estate asset manager.

Infrastructure Ontario will work with the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services to develop the new data centre, which will remain publicly owned, publicly controlled and publicly accountable. Infrastructure Ontario is a Crown corporation dedicated to managing some of the province's larger and more complex infrastructure renewal projects - ensuring they are built on time and on budget.

This project is guided by principles outlined in the province's Building a Better Tomorrow framework, which ensures public ownership of core assets such as hospitals, schools, and water and wastewater facilities.

Visit www.infrastructureontario.ca for more information.

Contacts:

Ciaran Ganley
Communications Branch
Ministry of Government and Consumer Services
416-325-8659

Terence Foran
Infrastructure Ontario
416-325-2939

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