New Data Centers: DHS, Peak 10, More

Last week saw a flurry of news about new data centers being planned, built or finished. Here's a roundup:

DHS Immigration Facility in Colorado: General Dynamics Information Technology (GD) said last week that it has opened an enterprise data center in Westminster, Colo., to support the Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The new data center, which is certified under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standard for energy efficient buildings, will provide centralized, round-the-clock support for USCIS and employ approximately 100 IT workers when fully staffed. "The mission of our customer is challenging and extremely important to the country," said S. Daniel Johnson, president of General Dynamics Information Technology. "The agency processes and verifies applications of those seeking to work and live in the United States, assists those seeking political or humanitarian asylum and manages applications of those seeking foreign adoptions. These functions require a secure, stable information technology infrastructure."

Peak 10 Expands in Atlanta: Peak 10 Inc., a provider of data center and managed services, announced the addition of a second facility on its Atlanta campus. The completion of the 10,000 square foot facility will bring the company's Atlanta’s total footprint to more than 33,000 square feet. This expansion comes on the heels of Peak 10’s recent $95 million credit facility expansion led by RBC Capital Markets.

New State DC for Massachusetts: Ground will be broken on the state of Massachusetts' new $110 million state data center in Springfield this spring, with the 115,000-square-foot facility scheduled to be up and running in May 2012, according to local media reports. The center will be built on the site of the long-shuttered Technical High School on Elliot Street. The project had been a political football for several years before state officials settled on the new site.

Cleveland Clinic Plans Expansion: The Cleveland Clinic has purchased 14 acres of land in Brecksville, Ohio and plans to use the site to build an 80,000 square foot data center, Cleveland Business News reports. Construction could start in the spring, and the project might be finished by spring 2011. The Cleveland Clinic Foundation paid more than $1.8 million for the land, in the Brecksville Business Park south of Miller Road and west of Interstate 77. The Clinic bought the property Dec. 31 from a partnership led by Hemingway Development of Streetsboro.