Carter Validus Buys California Data Center for $134 Million

cartervalidus-california

Carter Validus Mission Critical REIT has acquired this AT&T data center near California. (Photo: Carter Validus)

Carter Validus Mission Critical REIT has acquired an AT&T data center near San Diego for $134.5 million, the company said this week. The deal marks the third sale/leaseback transaction between AT&T and Carter Validus, which previously acquired AT&T facilities in Wisconsin and Nashville.

The San Diego property is a 499,402 square foot building that was originally built in 1983. Since 2009, AT&T has invested $13 million to improve and expand the building’s data center infrastructure. The acquisition was closed on Dec. 17.

A sale-leaseback option typically involves a property owner selling their building to a second party, while agreeing to continue to lease space in the building. The transaction generates cash for the former owner (now the tenant), and provides the new owner steady rent from the lease. These deals are particularly attractive when the initial owner is a blue-chip company with a strong credit rating.

Carter Validus Mission Critical REIT is focused on two sectors, data center and healthcare, citing societal trends that it believes will boost demand for data storage and outpatient healthcare.

The company acquired acquired $593.2 million in real estate assets in 2013, bringing its total portfolio to $988 million. Of that, $589 million are data center assets, compared to $399 million of healthcare facilities. Carter Validus now owns 3.1 million rentable square feet of space across 17 states.

"We’re delighted with the significant progress we made in 2013," said John Carter, CEO of CVMC REIT. "As we approach $1 billion in portfolio assets, we believe we are well positioned to continue to deliver value to our shareholders over time."