Staff Writer-Dallas Business Journal
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One of North Texas’ largest data centers is getting ready to open the doors to its first data-crunching tenants.
Overland Park, Kansas-based QTS (Quality Technology Services) is planning to make a “mega” play in Dallas-Fort Worth, stepping into the sandbox with big-time players such as Digital Realty Trustand CyrusOne.
That’s because QTS, which recently went public (NYSE: QTS), has strategically targeted Dallas for development.
“In the last two years, we started to go beyond opportunistic expansion and be more strategic,” Eric Jacobs, executive vice president of the West with QTS, told the Dallas Business Journal. “Dallas was one of those markets we strategically wanted to be in.”
Last year, QTS bought a former semiconductor plant that sits on a 40-acre campus in Irving. In a major overhaul of the 7-year-old vacant plant, QTS hauled 4.5 million tons of recyclable materials from the site, including stainless steel, turning the 700,000-square-foot facility into a data hot spot.
The campus has the ability to expand to 1.4 million square feet of data center space. Upon its completion by the end of the summer, the data center will be one of three “mega” data centers QTS owns throughout the United States," Jacobs said.
At the time of the property acquisition, QTS CEO Chad Williams said the company’s entry into Texas at the Irving facility would position it for future growth.
Williams wasn’t wrong. Months after the acquisition, QTS filed for a $300 million initial public offering and landed on the NYSE.
We take an inside look at QTS' "mega" expansion into Dallas. Check out the attached photos for a look at the progress on the massive redevelopment project.
Want more? Look for more details in the Business Journal's upcoming Data Center publication