Unicorn Data Center Hits Emeryville Market For $6.5M

Starboard Commercial Real Estate listed an Emeryville, California, data center for sale in a test for the market, which doesn't often see data centers change hands.

Starboard is asking $6.5M, or $577 per SF, for the facility, which supports 960 kilowatts.

The 11,200 SF facility at 6440 Shellmound St. is fully leased to Lumen Technologies and has served as CenturyLink’s key telecommunications center for the last 25 years. However, the company’s lease expires in 2026. 

“We see this as the perfect opportunity where it can be advantageous as the lease comes up for renewal in less than year and we’ll know rather quickly if CenturyLink is staying or not,” Starboard Vice President Craig Hansson told Bisnow. “So, it offers up a fully turnkey operation that someone else can take over for a data center with all the infrastructure in place.”

The property was originally constructed in 1960 and underwent renovations in 2000 and 2016. It offers 18-foot clear heights, fiber lines, a backup generator and power infrastructure. The property's size, function and connectivity make it something of a unicorn in the market.

“To get anybody to replace these things will take upwards of 18 months to two years to go through PG&E to get everything up and running,” Hansson said. “This data center is a little bit smaller than some others and plays for those uses out there that may want to take advantage of something that is ready and turnkey.” 

For those data center deals that have occurred nearby, the value is more in the infrastructure than the building itself, Hansson said. For that reason, Starboard is targeting potential buyers that have existing data centers or colocation facilities and need more power.

With an increased need for data centers to keep up with the rising interest in artificial intelligence and cloud storage, the demand for data centers has never been higher. 

Supply remains tight in most data center markets in the U.S., including Silicon Valley and the entire Bay Area. Vacancy is approximately 4.9% nationwide, with 83% of upcoming capacity preleased, according to a new Cushman & Wakefield report.

Over the last year, data center capacity in North America grew to 20 gigawatts, and that is expected to continue rising in 2025.