Power Loft Bought by Corporate Office REIT

powerloft-exterior

The exterior of the Power Loft data center in Manassas, Virginia.

The Power Loft @ Innovation data center in Manassas, Virginia has been acquired by Corporate Office Properties Trust (COPT) for $115 million, the companies announced today. The deal highlights the continued interest in the northern Virginia data center market, especially for the government sector.

The 233,000 square foot Power Loft data center opened its doors earlier this year, with a new design focused on energy efficiency. The facility was developed by Power Loft LLC, founded by James Coakley, with backing from Iron Point Partners. The facility is 16 percent leased, with two tenants in place that each have options on expansion space.

COPT will complete the development of the remaining tenant space of the facility, and expects to invest an additional $166 million in development costs.

Focused on Government Market
COPT is a real estate investment trust that focuses on properties for the federal government, including specialized IT facilities for the defense sector. The company owns 267 office and data properties totaling 20 million rentable square feet, and is well-versed in data center development.

"The Northern Virginia data center market is among the strongest and most stable in the U.S., with demand expected to significantly outpace supply for the next several years," said Randall Griffin, President and Chief Executive Officer of Corporate Office Properties Trust.

"This is great news," said Power Loft's Coakley. "COPT loves the design, and they have a national development focus and more of a capital runway."

The two-story Power Loft data center was one of the first designs to create a "hard separation" between the server area and the mechanical equipment. The data center has 50 megawatts of power capacity from the Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative (NOVEC) and employs a flexible “hybrid power” distribution system from Validus DC Power that offers users the option of AC or DC power.

Silver LEED Certification
The company also says its use of larger air handlers makes its cooling system more efficient, giving the facility a reported Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) of 1.28. The project has earned a Silver certification under the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) benchmark for energy efficiency in commercial building.

In addition to acquiring Power Loft @ Innovation, COPT has formed Powerloft Services LLC, a joint venture with Coakley to handle the development, management and leasing. COPT will own a controlling interest in the joint venture.

Earlier this year we shot a video in which, Michael Armm from Power Loft and Jason Chartrand from T5 Partners provided an overview of the Manassas building's innovative two-story design. This video runs about 6 minutes, 30 seconds.