CRG West Buys Boston, Chicago Centers

CRG West has acquired data centers in the Boston and Chicago markets as it continues to expand its national footprint of carrier-neutral facilities, the company said this week. CRG West, a unit of the Carlyle Group, said it has bought the 70 Innerbelt in Somerville, Mass. and 427 LaSalle in Chicago, and now owns more than 2 million square feet of carrier hotel and data center space in eight facilities in Los Angeles, San Jose, Chicago, Boston, Miami and Washington, D.C.

CRG West didn't disclose what it paid to acquire the buildings, but media reports place the sale price of 475 LaSalle at $34 million, or about $210 per square foot for the 162,000 square foot property. Both facilities were renovated within the past decade, but will undergo additional construction to prepare them for data center usage, including upgraded power and cooling infrastructure.

The 70 Innerbelt is a 276,000 square foot building located less than two miles from downtown Boston and Cambridge, with sturdy power infrastructure and ceiling heights of 16 feet. CRG West plans to offer more than 170,000 square feet of colocation space in phased construction, with an opening expected in the third quarter of 2007.

"70 Innerbelt presented an excellent opportunity to purchase a large asset with excellent fiber connectivity and the infrastructure base to support a first-class data center," said David W. Dunn, senior vice president of CRG West. "Companies will find 70 Innerbelt to be an excellent choice in a market that lacks high-quality, carrier-neutral data center space close to the Central Business District."

In Chicago, 427 LaSalle was originally designed and built by Western Union and has been a central point for communications in the central United States since 1916. The facility is situated across from One Financial Plaza and adjacent to the Chicago Board of Trade. The building will be renovated to add six megawatts of emergency back-up power, and provide nearly 50,000 square feet of newly conditioned space in phased construction capable of handling high-density server and enterprise applications.

"First-class data center space with a robust selection of carriers and service providers has become scarce in the Chicago area during a time of accelerated industry demand," said Dunn. "427 LaSalle will offer a tremendous supply of valuable carriers and enterprises supporting data center space paired with economical interconnection options. The facility will deliver to a demanding market, much-needed supply and will expand our successful Meet-Me Room and colocation-services business model."

CRG West, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Carlyle Group, operates facilities including One Wilshire, Market Post Tower, 1275 K Street NW in Washington D.C., 427 S. LaSalle in Chicago, and the Miami Exchange. The Carlyle Group is one of the world's largest private equity firms, with more than $56 billion under management.