HSBC Finalizes NY Site for Data Center

International banking giant HSBC has selected a farm field in the Town of Cambria for a new $139 million Niagara County data center. The 275,000 square foot facility will be built near Cambria's southern border with Pendleton, according to tax documents HSBC Technology & Services filed with the Niagara County Industrial Development Agency.

In October HSBC made a commitment to build the data center in upstate New York, even without a specific site, based on a commitment from the New York Power Authority to allocate 11 megawatts from the Niagara Power Project as part of the financial incentive package. The power will be drawn from Expansion Power, one of two large blocks of low-cost Niagara hydropower reserved for Western New York businesses and industries.

Specific plans for Cambria call for a 200,000-square-foot building and a 75,000-square-foot equipment yard to be built on 51 acres. The project is designed to allow for future expansion to 350,000 square feet. HSBC expects to spend $5.93 million to buy and prepare the land, and $66.4 million to construct the building. Another $35 million will go for technology, with another $4.6 million in miscellaneous costs. Once the facility is online, HSBC will spend $55.5 million a year for 15 years on technology, for a total investment in Cambria of $944.5 million.

The Cambria project isn't the company's only expansion of its data center network. In early 2006 HSBC received approval to convert a former mail order pharmacy facility in Parsippany, N.J. into a 225,000 square foot data center.

HSBC, headquartered in London, is one of the largest banking and financial services organizations in the world. The company's international network comprises over 9,700 offices in 77 countries and territories throughout the world. HSBC has a 150 year history in Western New York and has long been one of the region's largest employers.