Carpathia Expands Virginia Data Center

Secure hosting specialist Carpathia Hosting said today that it has expanded its data center in Harrisonburg, Va., adding 20,000 square feet of additional technical space.

The expansion of the Blue Ridge Data Center continues a period of growth and expansion for Virginia-based Carpathia Hosting, which continues to gain traction with federal and enterprise clientele in the Washington, D.C. and Phoenix markets. Last year Carpathia announced plans to build a large new data center in southern Virginia (Halifax County) and also leased 25,000 square feet of space from Digital Realty Trust (DLR) in northern Virginia.

Carpathia Hosting holds a number of key certifications to support high-security federal government hosting requirements, including Department of Defense Information Technology Security Certification and Accreditation Process (DITSCAP) and SAS70 certification. The Blue Ridge Data Center was built 100 miles from Washington, D.C., well outside the 50-mile “blast zone” for mission-critical continuity in the event of a regional disaster.

Virginia is for Data Centers (Still)

Parts of northern Virginia are running short of power for data center projects, but state officials say there are still plenty of quality development sites. Companies considering Virginia for data center projects may want to look beyond the most crowded data center clusters, according to Michael MacNeilly, the Project Manager for Business Development at the Virginia Economic Development Partnership.

On Wednesday SoftLayer opened a new data center in Chantilly, and began installing servers in space operated by Internap. It’s the latest new facility in northern Virginia, which is rich in connectivity and experiencing strong demand for data center space. Equinix (EQIX), DuPont Fabros (DFT), Digital Realty Trust (DLR), and Power Loft all have expanded with major data center projects in the counties surrounding Washington in northern Virginia.

MacNeilly said economic development officials have identified about 85 sites across Virginia that could support data center development, including a growing number of locations in the southern half of the state. “There’s more to Virginia than just northern Virginia,” MacNeilly said last month at Data Center World. “In certain areas, power is an issue. What we tried to do is to be proactive, so we looked at sites statewide that might support a data center.”

Power Loft Readies First Site, More to Come

Power Loft LLC is nearing completion of its first data center in northern Virginia and has bought land for a second site in San Antonio.

DBT-Data Acquires Criticon’s Virginia Project

DBT-Data LLC has acquired a data center project in Harrisonburg, Va. from Criticon, the initial developer. DBT is a spinoff from DBT Development Group, a Washington-based commercial real estate firm, and has bought out the partners in Criticon I and purchased the 100,000-square-foot building and 13 acres of land.

Criticon launched its redevelopment of the former Tyco Building at 1175 N. Main Street in March 2007, and was touted by Gov. Tim Kaine as a source of high-tech jobs for the region. DBT paid $3.6 million for the building, according to local media.

“We’re much better capitalized than Criticon was,” said Chris Trapp, a principal in DBT-Data, who said the new owners would continue the development plan initiated by Criticon. DBT managing partner David B. Tolson said his firm expects to invest $120 million in the project. DBT expects to complete 10,000 square feet of data center space by July, with a total of 50,000 square foot available in the third quarter of the year. Total Site Solutions will continue as the design/build contractor on the project.

MBC Boosts Capacity of Virginia Backbone

The Mid-Atlantic Broadband Cooperative (MBC) has expanded the capacity of its network in southern Virginia, using money from the state’s settlement with tobacco companies to build a faster backbone to support more data centers. MBC is a not-for-profit cooperative created in 2003 to provide affordable broadband to Virginia residents.

MBC is using digital optical networking technology from Infinera (INFN) to boost the regional network’s capacity tenfold to 100 Gigabits/second (Gbps), ensuring that MBC can support the requirements of telecom carriers in new data centers in the region.

“Due to the recent growth of data centers and new companies locating in Southside Virginia, it was necessary for us to increase our capacity to provide on-net wholesale multi-gigabit connections from our mostly rural region to Tier I data center hubs like the Equinix facility in Ashburn, Virginia, Level 3 Gateways in Virginia and North Carolina and the Telx facility in Atlanta, Georgia,” said MBC General Manager Tad Deriso.

Carpathia Plans Huge Virginia Data Center

Enterprise application hosting specialist Carpathia Hosting will build more than 300,000 square feet of premium data center space in Halifax County, Virginia over the next five years, the company said today. Carpathia said it has selected the Riverstone Technology Park (RTP) for its data center project, which will start with a first phase of 20,000 square feet of raised floor space in an existing building.

The project demonstrates that demand for data center space in Virginia extends beyond northern Virginia’s technology corridor in Loudon, Fairfax and Prince William counties. Halifax County is in southern Virginia, abutting the North Carolina state line.

Carpathia, whose customers include government agencies, said it plans to build several additional Tier III and Tier IV data centers, with some of the space likely being designed to comply with the Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) code, a National Security Agency standard for buildings that handle sensitive government data or intelligence. A key emphasis of the guidelines is the ability to impose extraordinary controls on building access.

Power Loft Plans Large Virginia Data Center

Total Site Solutions (TSS) said today that it has been hired to maintain a new 200,000 square foot data center being built by Power Loft @ Innovation LLC in Northern Virginia. The facility is under construction and expected to come online next year, and TSS expects to have 35 full time engineers, technicians and on-site security officers maintaining and protecting the site.

The TSS press release provided little information about the project. A little searching found that the Power Loft data center is located at the NT Innovation Park in Manassas, Virginia. Power Loft LLC is affiliated with several business units of Greyfields, a real estate private equity firm. The NT Innovation Park was purchased by Next Tier Equities (a Greyfields affiliate) in December 2005 to capitalize on the strong demand for mission-critical facilities in Northern Virginia. Next Tier was founded by Kevin Reardon, who previously worked as a principal and Chief Financial Officer at T-Rex Capital overseeing a portfolio of $400 million of mission critical, data center and commercial office assets. Reardon is also a principal in Greyfields, along with Robert Freeman, whow as previously a senior principal of Lazard Fr

Criticon Plans Virginia Data Center

Criticon, a newly-formed developer of mission-critical facilities, will invest $115 million in its first data center, a planned 150,000 square foot colocation facility in Harrisonburg, Va. Criticon will redevelop the former Tyco Building at 1175 N. Main Street in Harrisonburg, expanding the facility by 40,000 square feet.

“Harrisonburg is the right fit for Criticon’s first co-location data center,” said Virginia Gov. Timothy Kaine. “The area’s university, technology savvy workforce, and multiple fiber carriers meet all the company’s needs. Criticon’s significant investment to convert the former Tyco Building and create new, high paying technology jobs will broaden the corporate base in Harrisonburg and the region.” The new data center is expected to create 25 new jobs paying an average $80,000 salary.

Terremark Gets $27M for Expansion

Terremark Worldwide, Inc. (TWW) has obtained $27.25 million in financing from Credit Suisse to buy data centers in Silicon Valley and the Washington, D.C. market and complete the build-out of its current Silicon Valley facility, the company announced today. Under terms of the deal, Credit Suisse will purchase the two properties and lease them to Terremark, while providing the company with a $13.25 in financing in the form of a lease commitment. Terremark will later have the option to buy the properties from Credit Suisse at the original purchase price plus accrued interest.

“We are excited to have this financing in place, which will allow us to move forward with our expansion strategy and leverage the significant customer demand we are seeing in these two markets,” said Manuel D. Medina, Chairman and CEO of Terremark Worldwide, Inc. “With this funding we can begin contracting with both new and current customers for the two facilities, which will provide a solid foundation to lower our cost of capital as we secure the balance of the financing.”

Equinix Raises Additional $40M

Equinix, Inc. (EQIX) has borrowed an additional $40 million to finance the expansion of its Washington, D.C. area data center campus, following through on a financing plan first announced last September. Equinix shares were down $2.73 to $72.65 in mid-morning trading on Wall Street.

Equinix is increasing the existing mortgage on its Washington, D.C. area campus from $60 million to $100 million, on the same terms as the initial mortgage, which is a fixed rate of 8% and a 20-year term. Equinix weill use the borrowing to fund its expansion strategy for the D.C. area. Equinix is building out an existing shell on the campus and intends to open the new facility this month. The new data center will add approximately 100,000 gross square feet and increase sellable cabinets by 1,700 to meet increasing demand in the Washington, D.C. area.