Digital Realty: $472 Million in 2009 Leasing

Data center developer Digital Realty Trust (DLR) said today that it signed leases representing more than $472 million in total cash contract value. In terms of square footage, the real estate investment trust commenced leases on 757,000 square feet of space, and signed leases for 434,000 square feet. That's a substantial decline from 2008, when leasing hit 1.1 million square feet in both measures. But the 2009 results reflect a very different economic climate than the 2008 data

"We are very pleased with our leasing results for both the fourth quarter and full year 2009, particularly in light of last year's challenging economic conditions," said Michael Foust, CEO of Digital Realty Trust. "The measured approach we took over the year of aligning our redevelopment activity with real demand for our products, particularly Turn-Key Datacenter space, allowed us to manage our capital allocation and meet our return on investment objectives.

Here's a look at the leasing data for the full-year 2009:

Here's a look at the leasing data for the fourth quarter, ending Dec. 31, 2009:

For the full-year 2009, the Company signed lease renewals totaling approximately 1.3 million square feet, resulting in a 22.5 percent increase in GAAP rent for the leases renewed.

"The high level of leases renewed during the year reflects the mission critical nature of our customers' operations in our facilities," said Foust. "We also added a number of new, large corporate enterprise customers along with leading IT service providers and global system integrators to our roster, demonstrating the widespread adoption of our Turn-Key Datacenter product."

The Turn-key Datacenter program offers customers finished ”plug and play” raised-floor data center space, which shifts the data center development costs from the tenant to the landlord, and allows for much quicker deployment than if the customer built a new facility on its own. Powered Base Building (PBB) is undeveloped space with the power and fiber connectivity already in place, allowing for easy expansion.