Fortune Launches Data Center Development Arm

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The Fortune Data Centers facility in San Jose, Calif.

Shifting into expansion mode, wholesale data center provider Fortune Data Centers has created a new development company, Fortune Development Group. The new business unit will be run by Matt Mochary, who co-founded the technology services company Totality, where he worked with Fortune CEO John Sheputis.

Fortune currently operates a single data center in San Jose, Calif., where the company recently completed a project to add another 1.4 megawatts of critical IT load, bringing the total capacity of the facility to 9.2 megawatts.

"As Fortune expands and scales its operations, we need specialized focus on our new projects," said Sheputis. "Matt will run Fortune’s new developments. Matt and I have known each for over 12 years since we built Totality, now a significant part of Verizon Business’ managed services group. Given Matt’s enviable track record of building new businesses and the length and depth our relationship, I have great confidence that this will accelerate Fortune’s growth."

Mochary also has experience in private equity and real estate development, and is also an award-winning documentary filmmaker.

The formation of a development division typically is a predecessor to expansion. Fortune has not yet announced plans to grow beyond its San Jose facility.

Fortune’s 78,000 square foot facility has earned a Gold LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.
The data center is housed in a former Seagate fabrication facility, which was already equipped with 8 megawatts of power capacity, a 100,000 gallon water storage tank, and a seismic isolation system.

Earlier this year, Fortune became the first data center in California to competitively procure power for its tenants through the California Public Utilities Commission Direct Access program, in which utility customers can choose from multiple energy suppliers. Fortune says participating in the Direct Access program has helped it save nearly 4 cents/kWh versus the comparable summer utility tariff.

“The benefits of Direct Access exceeded our expectations in every way" said Sheputis. "Not only were we able to reduce our tenant’s utility costs by almost seven figures, we also found an economical way to use a portion of the savings to reduce our environmental impact" by participating in PG&E’s Climate Smart initiative, which funds greenhouse gas capture and reduction efforts.