ATLANTA—Tim Huffman has switched commercial real estate allegiances. CBRE'S Data Center Solutions practice hired him as senior vice president. Joining more than 100 professionals in the firm's international data center team, Huffman will be based out of Atlanta.

Atlanta is one of the leading US data center markets, with 12.2 megawatts of total net absorption in 2016 according to CBRE. As the wholesale market in Atlanta continues to expand and evolve, the availability of custom facility and redundancy configurations, a favorable business climate, abundant and reliable power and low utility costs will likely make the metro a key market for data center requirements.

As Huffman sees it, the ongoing Atlanta traffic snarl created by the recent Interstate 85 interstate collapse has highlighted the importance of Atlanta as a commerce thorough fare. As millions of commuters traverse the road system of Atlanta each day, he says, millions more travel an unseen network of fiber that runs thru Atlanta interconnecting the entire southeastern US.