Toronto will be one of four new global hubs for innovation, Cisco Systems announced yesterday, representing an investment of up to $100M over 10 years. (Cisco's payin' for dinner!)

The Innovation Centre will occupy 15k SF of space in Oxford Properties’ new RBC Waterpark Place, scheduled for completion spring 2015 (the office tower will also be the home of Cisco’s new Canadian HQ). Songdo, South Korea, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and a German city (yet to be named) are the other three cities. (No, we're family with those cities, so we'll need to share our clothes.) The centre will help startups, established companies and industries tap into Cisco technologies and Smart+Connected solutions. “Cisco aims to help create new markets and solutions and establish a hotbed for experimentation,” Cisco Canada president Nitin Kawale says.

Oxford’s EVP Michael Kitt says the announcement melds nicely with their strategy of “offering next generation office environments.” Cisco is a thought-leader in smart buildings, Michael adds, the type of “forward-thinking tenant” that continues to help Oxford stay informed in this area.