CHICAGO—The California Public Employees' Retirement System has just added another data center to its vast real estate portfolio, this time in Chicago at 601 W. Polk St. in the South Loop neighborhood. The acquisition was made through TechCore, LLC, a $1 billion fund created by CalPERS in 2012 and managed by GI Partners. It's another sign that institutional investors have a growing interest in this sector, which experts expect to grow tremendously as users put increased emphasis on cloud computing.

Although the price was not disclosed, Cook County records show that the new owner paid $17,485,000 to PI Data Hodings LLC for the former furniture warehouse, which was first developed in 1918. The latter firm bought the facility in 2011 for $10 million. TierPoint, a leading national provider of cloud, managed services and colocation, fully leases the roughly 107,000 square foot property on a long-term basis.

"We are pleased to own 601 West Polk and form a long-term relationship with TierPoint," said Mike Armstrong, principal of GI Partners. "The facility's robust infrastructure, connectivity, and location make it an attractive addition to the TechCore portfolio. We actively track the Chicago market, a top tier data center market with attractive fundamentals, and are excited to complete our first acquisition in the MSA."