More Construction Ahead in Northern Virginia

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An aerial view of construction at a DuPont Fabros data center in northern Virginia. Data center construction is likely to remain busy in the area.

The data center building boom in northern Virginia appears likely to continue, as Grubb & Ellis reports that several new construction projects may be in the works.

"Virginia has seen increasing design-build interest from the user community, with a number of operators rumored to be shopping for land to accommodate future data center campuses," writes Bill Moser of Grubb & Ellis on the company's Data Center Practice blog. "Both DLR (Digital Realty Trust) and DBT Development are rumored to be moving forward with design-build solutions in Ashburn for single tenant transactions of 150,000 square feet."

Key Data Center Hub
Northern Virginia is one of the strongest data center markets, due to its historic status as a key intersection for communications networks and proximity to Washington, D.C. These factors combine to make northern Virginia a favored data center location for large Internet companies and government agencies.

In the past two years, most of the wholesale data center space coming online in northern Virginia has pre-leased, meaning the buildings have signed tenants before they open their doors. Grubb & Ellis estimates that there is currently demand for 40 to 70 megawatts of wholesale space in northern Virginia, with only 40 megawatts of new inventory scheduled to be brought to market in 2011.

That's why companies are contemplating more new construction. Digital Realty has already built a cluster of data centers on its Ashburn campus, and last year acquired several more properties nearby. DBT has experience in the data center sector from a project in Harrisonburg, Virginia.