Terremark Buys Properties in Santa Clara

Terremark (TMRK) has bought two properties in Santa Clara, Calif. for the West coast phase of its expansion plan, the company said today. Terremark paid $12.25 million to acquire 2970 and 3000 Corvin Drive, two properties adjacent to an existing Terremark data center at 3030 Colvin Drive. The sellers were an investment group that included Dan Pearlman JV LLC, BDP Partners, EJLJ Mathews Family Partners and EGP Partners, which bought the sites in 2000.

The 3.05 acre properties include a 67,376 square foot building with one tenant, Equant Inc., which is terminating its lease and vacating the property. Equant will pay Terremark a $2.7 million fee to terminate its 24,000 square foot lease. Equant, now known as Orange Business Services, is an IT subsidiary of France Telecom.

The purchase is part of a broader expansion strategy outlined by Terremark in June 2006, which includes new data centers in northern Virginia and Silicon Valley. Terremark has begun construction on a 30-acre site in Culpeper County, Virginia, which may ultimately house as many as five data centers spanning 250,000 square feet of space.

Terremark said last November that it had identified a site for its Silicon Valley expansion. It signed a purchase agreement for the two Santa Clara properties in March, but didn't close the transaction until Sept. 4.

Terremark won't begin construction at 2970 and 3000 Corvin until late 2008, according to spokesman Xavier Gonzalez, who said the first phase of construction will include a 50,000 square foot data center.

The deals also continue an active year for the data center market in Santa Clara, which has been perhaps the most active site in Silicon Valley for the development of mission-critical facilities. Recent milestones include: