The Waterloo-based company first filed plans for the 122,450-square-foot office building on Innovation Drive, at Terry Fox Drive, in the spring of 2009.
At the time, RIM was said to be in need of additional space in the National Capital Region. It gained an additional 146,500 square feet this past May when the company subleased the former Dell call at 1001 Farrar Rd.
In April, RIM purchased Ottawa-based QNX Software, which produces the operating system that will power RIM’s new tablet computer, the BlackBerry PlayBook, which is expected to be released in the new year.
Sources say QNX owns its 60,000-square-foot building at 175 Terence Matthews Cres. However, they speculate RIM could be growing the QNX team as it prepares to take on the Apple iPad, Samsung Galaxy Tab and others in the tablet market.
No one in the office of the councillor for the area, Marianne Wilkinson, was available to discuss the status of RIM’s 2009 development application, which is still listed as “on hold” on the city’s website.
The Innovation Drive site was originally developed by Canderel before being sold to Cisco. It currently has two Cisco buildings, as well as the current RIM building at 4000 Innovation Dr.
No construction permits have been awarded by the city for projects on Innovation Drive in recent months, municipal records show.
In addition to its space on Innovation Drive and on Farrar Road, RIM occupies about 40,000 square feet at 450 March Rd. and between 10,000 and 15,000 square feet at 3026 Solandt Rd.
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