CAPSTAR Plans Data Center Near Dallas

CAPSTAR Real Estate Advisors plans to convert a former telecom facility in Mesquite, Texas into a huge data center, and says it has a capital partner willing to provide funding for the project. CAPSTAR is seeking township approval of tax incentives to develop the former AT&T/Lucent facility at 3000 Skyline Drive.

The building's current tenant is Lineage Power, a unit of Tyco Electronics that builds power supplies for telecom and networking equipment. Mesquite is an eastern suburb of Dallas, which had been a hot market for data center development in 2008.

CAPSTAR hopes to purchase the 960,000 square foot facility, lease some of the space back to Lineage and partition the remaining space into "pods" of powered shell space ready for data center tenants. Brad Enloe, vice president of CAPSTAR Real Estate Advisors, said the facility represents "a unique opportunity for a data center, with a confluence of power and fiber."

"This facility will probably have more power than any other facility in the country," said Enloe. The property has a power substation on site, and is adjacent to a rail line with rights of way used by multiple fiber providers.

CAPSTAR appeared before the Mesquite City Council on Dec. 15 to request economic incentives for the project, which it said was important to make the Mesquite site competitive with development opportunities in other markets

"A data center is very important for the city of Mesquite," said Tom Palmer, Manager Economic Development for the city. "They're packed with very expensive equipment."

Enloe told the council that CAPSTAR has been working on a development plan since February 2008, and projects that it will be able to complete its data center retrofit by the end of 2009.