PHILLY: A New Way to Fill Vacant Office Space
If you're looking for another way to add value to your office building, think about adding data facilities. Consider this: In Philadelphia, all of the universities, hospitals, banks, and financial institutions within a 100-mile radius—even tech giant Comcast—add up to hundreds of data players who are increasingly outsourcing their data to colocation facilities but want those sites to stay local, according to PECO regional director of economic development Ed Piscopo.
What makes your office building good for storing data? (First, it can't be a gossip.) Dual service from utilities and available power and fiber capacity are ideal, Ed says. And it doesn't have to be a new building: at 401 North Broad St, owner Amerimar has pledged $70M in renovations and will be marketing 300k SF of vacant space for data center use. Amerimar is already ahead of the game, having added carrier service to 1500 Spring Garden before selling last year.
