ServerCentral Expands in Chicago Market

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The DuPont Fabros CH1 data center, where ServerCentral has leased space.

ServerCentral is expanding its operations with a new data center in the Chicago market, leasing space in DuPont Fabros Technology's new CH1 data center in Elk Grove Village, Illinois. The colocation provider has opened a 10,000 square feet facility at CH1, which includes 6,200 square feet of space on a 42-inch raised floor that can support up to 210 watts per square foot of power density.

"I’m excited to find a Chicago-area facility that will allow us to truly meet customer needs both present and future," said Jordan Lowe, ServerCentral President and CEO. "While many options exist in the market today, the technical leadership exhibited by DuPont Fabros in this facility really impressed me. Significant efforts were made to choose environmentally conscious technologies in the design of the building, including UPS systems free of chemical batteries, advanced mechanical system automation and higher voltage throughout the building’s power distribution."

In addition to colocation services, ServerCentral offers a suite of managed services, including "remote hands" support, firewall, storage, backup and monitoring services. The company is based in Chicago, and also has a presence in Ashburn, Va. and San Jose, Calif.  Last year ServerCentral sold its WingSix web hosting unit to the UK2 Group, Ltd.

"We are looking forward to a long-term relationship with ServerCentral," said Hossein Fateh, President and Chief Executive Officer of DuPont Fabros Technology, Inc. "Their devotion to quality and service align well with our commitment to providing the most reliable data center space to our customers."

The lease is one of three that DuPont Fabros has signed for its CH1 facility, a 485,000 square foot property with a power capacity of 36 megawatts. Phase I of the facility is now 17 percent leased, with leasing picking up in recent months after a slow start when the center opened last summer.  Company officials have cited slower sales cycles for the enterprise data center users due to the economic downturn. In addition, while data center space is tight in downtown Chicago, there's more data center supply in Elk Grove Village, where Equinix also has a large new data center.

DuPont Fabros recently worked out an agreement to effectively fold the construction loan for the Chicago data center into an existing loan on its ACC4 facility in Ashburn, Va. The CH1 facility was added as collateral, allowing DuPont Fabros to secure an extra $150 million, which it used to pay off the $135 million construction loan on CH1.