Switch & Data Leases Atlanta Data Center

Switch and Data (SDXC) has leased space in Atlanta to expand its data center operations, the company said today in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Switch and Data GA Four LLC has leased a 79,200 square foot facility at 180 Peachtree Street, a former Macy's department store that now houses data center space for companies including Level 3.

The deal continues a data center expansion for Switch and Data,  which is building out a large data center in New Jersey and recently announced plans to expand its facility in Vienna, Va. In its latest earnings report, the company said it was experiencing strong demand for new space it brought online in Dallas, Toronto and Sunnyvale, Calif. in the second quarter of 2008. 

The 15-year lease at 180 Peachtree commences on December 1, and the site "will be operated in a manner consistent with existing Switch and Data facilities." The company currently operates data center space and a PAIX interconnection facility at 56 Marietta Street in Atlanta.

180 Peachtree is an 8-story, 658,000 square foot building built in 1927. The building was bought in 2000 by Taconic Investment Partners, which invested $24 million to adapt the facility's upper floors for telecom and data centers use. Level 3 expanded its operations at 180 Peachtree in 2003 after Macy's closed its store on the lower levels of the building. Taconic sold the building in March 2007 to Peachtree Carnegie LLC, which recently leased the former Macy's space on the lower three floors to 180 Peachtree Retail Group, a partnership of Atlanta investors.