FORT WORTH—The Dallas-Fort Worth data center market outperformed every primary market except Northern Virginia in the first half of 2017, according to a recent report from CBRE. DFW recorded 22 megawatts of net absorption as much of the new product being delivered was met with pent-up demand, GlobeSt.com learns.
With the two largest data center landlords in the DFW market, CyrusOne and Digital Realty, nearing full capacity at existing campuses, the supply pipeline and the near-term opportunities for other providers remains a prevailing story in the metroplex.
That's where a new hyperscalable development comes in, the first in DFW. T5 Data Centers and Hillwood are partnering to co-develop a data center campus within AllianceTexas, the 18,000-acre master-planned mixed-use development. AllianceTexas has initially dedicated 350 to 400 acres of its master plan specifically for data centers. The T5@Alliance campus will be just north and to the east of the 2 million-square-foot Facebook data center already at AllianceTexas.
“Rapid growth in Fort Worth is catching the attention of large technology companies like Facebook and is reinforcing AllianceTexas' position as a premier destination for data centers,” said Mike Berry, president of Hillwood, developer of AllianceTexas. “With highly acclaimed data centers already developed in eight major markets across the United States, T5 and IPI Partners are ideal partners for expediting the evolution of AllianceTexas as a large-scale data center destination. This partnership will allow us to quickly deliver even more data center campuses to the growing number of customers who want to more efficiently serve North Texas and the broader market.”
Redundancy is one of the core reasons that data centers find AllianceTexas attractive. Multiple long-haul and domestic fiber providers are in place throughout AllianceTexas. The development is served by two separate transmission sources, Brazos Electric Power Cooperative and Oncor, which come together at the same location to provide power independently with transmission-level redundancy. Four substations currently exist at AllianceTexas, with locations identified for multiple additional substations, which enhance redundancy opportunities for development sites. This component, combined with the fact that Texas operates on its own electrical grid, mitigates the risk that data center operations will be disrupted by power outages. The state's deregulated electricity marketplace also makes power extremely affordable.
This data center campus will have the capacity to replicate the entire megawattage put out by every other data center location in North Texas combined–essentially doubling capacity in North Texas, GlobeSt.com learns. Plus, at full build-out, the development is capable of delivering 400-plus megawatts of dedicated power, which replicates the current capacity of the entire Dallas-Fort Worth marketplace. This redundancy is one of the reasons Facebook chose its adjacent site two years ago.
In addition, the development is served by water supplied by Fort Worth. The water system within AllianceTexas was purposefully designed to provide critical redundancy, with interconnections between three transmission water mains.
Development of the T5@Alliance data center campus is backed by IPI Data Center Partners Management LLC which invests in data centers and other technology and connectivity-related real assets, and is sponsored by ICONIQ Capital LLC and an affiliate of Iron Point Partners LLC.
“The Dallas market is now home to more than 20 colocation providers, which is creating intense competition for every qualified deal,” said Haynes Strader with CBRE's data center solutions team in North Texas. “Dallas is getting a look at almost every national search because of the abundance of first-generation purpose-built space, the high quality of the colocation providers in the market and the attractive pricing that is available due to this competitive environment.”
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Lisa Brown
Lisa Brown is an editor for the south and west regions of GlobeSt.com. She has 25-plus years of real estate experience, with a regional PR role at Grubb & Ellis and a national communications position at MMI. Brown also spent 10 years as executive director at NAIOP San Francisco Bay Area chapter, where she led the organization to achieving its first national award honors and recognition on Capitol Hill. She has written extensively on commercial real estate topics and edited numerous pieces on the subject.
