"Since 9/11 all companies must protect their information and secure it for national security reasons," he explains. "Even brokerage and pharmaceutical firms are using [data centers] now because mission-critical information and facilities can't afford to go down."

The 135-acre, 215,000 sf of buildings was originally funded by the US Department of Energy as a particle accelerator that would be used to study the fundamental structure of matter. However, a lack of funding left legislatures having to choose between moving forward on this facility or on a NASA project--and space beat matter.

What was science's loss is information gatherers' gain however, as facilities with such tight storage and security are hard to come by in the US.

"The demand in the US for these types of facilities far outweighs the current supply," Loewen says. "And this facility provides the necessary power and high-tech infrastructure needed to support this industry."

Aside from the buildings and land, the former facility contains more than 17 miles of rock- and concrete-encased tunnels, which reside 250 ft below the Earth's surface. Loewen is not yet sure how the tunnels will be utilized, but believes they provide "obvious opportunities to facilities that may have a highly secured nature."

The Waxahachie facility was also chosen because it does not reside along a flight plan, on seismic ground or near hazardous materials. It is also near the Dallas-Forth Worth airport and is one of the only storage facilities in the US that is not along a coast.