COPT Signs 2MW Deal in Northern Virginia

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The COPT DC-6 data center in Manassas, Virginia. (Photo: COPT)

Corporate Office Properties Trust (COPT) has signed a 2 megawatt lease at its COPT-DC 6 data center in Manassas, Virginia, the company said today. The new tenant was identified as a "Fortune 100 Global consumer electronics and technology company."

The lease means that COPT has now leased 6.3 megawatts of the facility's 9 megawatts of available space, or 70 percent of capacity. Existing tenants at COPT DC-6 include CapGemini, EvoSwitch (LeaseWeb) and Vazata (previously Horizon Data Center Solutions).

"The caliber of the tenant and the size of this lease commitment illustrate the effectiveness of our re-branding and marketing efforts surrounding COPT DC-6," commented Roger Waesche, Jr., President & Chief Executive Officer of COPT. "We are pleased to see meaningful progress toward stabilizing this asset."

The 233,000 square foot COPT DC-6 data center opened its doors in 2010 as Power Loft, with a new design focused on energy efficiency. The two-story facility was one of the first designs to create a “hard separation” between the server area and the mechanical equipment by placing them on different floors. The property was acquired by COPT in Sept. 2010 for $115 million.

But leasing in Manassas has trailed the robust activity seen about 25 miles north in Loudoun County's "Data Center Alley" in Ashburn. Last year COPT refined its marketing plan for the site, a strategy that has helped secure two substantial leases.

COPT is a real estate investment trust (REIT) focused primarily on serving the specialized requirements of U.S. Government agencies and defense contractors, most of whom are engaged in defense information technology and national security-related activities. As of March 31, 2013, COPT's portfolio included 210 office properties totaling 19.1 million rentable square feet.