SANTA CLARA, CA-Digital Realty Trust has acquired two shell buildings here totaling approximately 82,000 square feet where the San Francisco-based company plans 48,000 square feet of new data center space, and another site where it bought a 40,000-square-foot building and plans 25,000 square feet in what it describes as a supply-constrained market for data center facilities in Santa Clara. The most recently acquired site is the 82,000 square feet, which is at 3105 and 3115 Alfred St. The other site is at 1725 Comstock St.

At the Comstock Street property, the REIT plans three facilities of 1125-kilowatt turnkey space each that it is scheduled to build out and complete by the end of this year. It says that the Alfred Street location can support the development of six data facilities of 1125-kilowatt turnkey data center space each.

Digital plans to build out the six Alfred Street facilities in two phases. Phase one is under way and includes upgrades to the core and shell plus the construction of four facilities at 3105 Alfred St., a 50,000-square-foot single-story building. The first is expected to come on line in the first quarter of 2011. Phase two will consist of upgrades and building out two centers at 3115 Alfred St., a two-story building totaling 32,000 square feet.

According to Scott Peterson, SVP of acquisitions for the San Francisco-based REIT, the acquisitions follow the company's strategy of adding redevelopment inventory to markets where it sees strong demand for turnkey data centers. The Alfred Street property, he notes, "is located contiguous to several of our facilities in Santa Clara, giving us and our customers the benefit of significant operating economies of scale, including the ability to deliver our turnkey product quickly and cost effectively." The buildings are situated on a single 4.2-acre parcel across the street from Digital Realty’s Space Park campus, “allowing us to achieve meaningful economies of scale as we expand our footprint in this important, supply-constrained market," Peterson said.