Former Wolverine property eyed for possible AI data centre campus

FERGUS – Could a massive brownfield property on Gartshore Street one day host an AI data centre?

If Spur Innovation’s vision comes to life, the 25-acre property at 865 Gartshore Street, site of the former Wolverine Tube copper tubing plant, would be home to that and more.

Spread across social media, a since-removed website used AI-rendered imagery to illustrate a concept for an AI data centre campus with a two-acre vertical farm and greenhouse.

A paragraph on the site painted the picture: “A 165,000-square-foot heritage shell with three clear-height zones reborn as a sovereign Canadian AI data centre — paired with vertical farms, a closed-loop cooling pond, and an on-site innovation centre for the founders, operators and engineers who will build what the rest of the country runs on.”

Spur Innovation CEO Sharif Virani confirmed to the Advertiser the 25-acre property is being considered for an AI data centre campus — an extension of Spur’s Waterloo-based plans for the former BlackBerry/RIM Park campus in Waterloo.

According to Virani, Spur is developing “AI compute infrastructure” in Waterloo, but does not have an operating AI data centre.

Described as an “AI-first company,” Spur was founded last year by Krishan (Kapley) Judge, according to corporate records. Judge, who keeps a low public profile, is an entrepreneur working in real estate, tech and crypto.

(He bought the 600,000-square-foot RIM Park campus, since renamed the Spur Innovation Centre, for just under $80 million according to a 2024 Colliers Canada Office Market Report.)

The former Fergus Wolverine property was purchased in 2005 for $1.35 million by a numbered Ontario corporation – briefly registered as PharaHemp – listing Judge as its director, according to records.

Virani said the property has been part of Spur’s portfolio since it was purchased that year.

“It is part of a broader strategy focused on identifying opportunities where existing infrastructure, available power and regional economic priorities align,” Virani stated in an email, noting the Wolverine building, constructed in 1986, supports energy-intensive industrial operations.

But Virani cautioned it’s still early days.

“If the project were ever to move beyond the evaluation stage, we would look forward to engaging with [Centre Wellington Township] and participating in the appropriate planning, regulatory and public consultation processes,” Virani said.

The Gartshore Street concept website was intended to help broadcast the company’s superficial vision for the property, Virani explained, not to serve as a development plan.

“We believe it's important to engage with local stakeholders, understand regional priorities and carefully evaluate whether a project is appropriate before any future development decisions are made,” he added.

Centre Wellington spokesperson Kendra Martin confirmed the township has no applications from Spur, nor has the municipality been contacted by the company or made aware of plans for the property.

The Gartshore Street concept, previously available on Spur Innovations’ website, has since been removed, along with several others, including one in Haldimand County, where Spur appeared to have plans for a 350-acre AI data centre concept in Hagersville.

That site was taken down, Virani told The Haldimand Free Press, after it was published “in error” during a May launch of Spur’s main website.

Virani said the Gartshore Street brownfield will remain in its current state without development activity as the company considers its long-term potential.

“Our immediate focus as an organization is the redevelopment of the Spur campus in Waterloo,” Virani said.