The Power Of Proximity: How Owners And Operators Choose A Data Center Location

In Orangeburg, New York, a 232K SF facility stands on 23 acres. Inside, it is processing data from businesses and individuals across the globe. 

The facility’s owner and operator, fifteenfortyseven Critical Systems Realty (1547) selected Orangeburg, New York, for a number of factors. The location's proximity to the growing New York and New Jersey data center market, the incentive of sales and use tax abatement available throughout Rockland County and its prime geographic location, which is accessible by nearby highways and major transportation, made it an attractive place for a data center operation. 

Orangeburg is a census-designated place located within the town of Orangetown in Rockland County, New York. It is less than a quarter of a mile from the border of Bergen County, New Jersey, and 22 miles from Midtown Manhattan. 

“When companies look for data centers in the Northeast, many of them either look right in Manhattan for direct proximity to networks or out in nearby New Jersey,” 1547 President John Bonczek said. “But we chose to build in Rockland County because of close proximity to both the New Jersey data center market as well as the important connectivity properties in New York, without the high cost associated with those areas.”

Location has become a growing concern for data center owners and operators across the United States. Reliance on the cloud has increased significantly over the past year, and businesses need to find data centers to process their information quickly and effectively. A recent poll of over 1,000 IT executives found that 81% of workloads processed by companies are handled in the cloud. This increased demand has driven data center owners and operators to build and manage facilities in locations where they can have the biggest impact for end users. 

One reason the 1547 team chose to build in Orangeburg is its location away from flood zones. As natural disasters continue to plague cities across the U.S., companies are doing more to ensure their data center operations are strategically located far away from flood zones. The facility's proximity to 60 Hudson and 111 Eighth Ave. in Manhattan also makes it an attractive location for low-latency connectivity. 

A number of locations have also positioned themselves strategically by offering specific tax incentives to data center owners and operators. Businesses take advantage of these abatements in some of the largest data center hubs in the U.S., including Atlanta and Loudoun County, Virginia. 

Rockland County has recently taken similar steps to bring data center development to Orangeburg and other nearby towns. For example, the Rockland County Industrial Development Agency offers exemptions from state and county sales tax on data center furniture, fixtures, construction materials and equipment. This incentive offers 8% savings on all equipment destined for the 1547 facility in Orangeburg — a saving that effectively results in free co-location.  

Several businesses have already moved their data center operations to Rockland County. JPMorgan Chase recently purchased 60 acres in Orangeburg to develop a new data center campus, and Bloomberg L.P. also operates a large data center in Rockland County. 

As more businesses look to expand their data center operations, location and proximity to major data hubs and business centers continue to be drivers in selecting a site. 

Bisnow's New Jersey Data Centers event will be hosted at 1547’s Orangeburg facility. Find out more here.

This feature was produced in collaboration between Bisnow Branded Content and fifteenfortyseven Critical Systems Realty. Bisnow news staff was not involved in the production of this content.