CLIFTON, NJ-Telx has officially broken ground on a new $200-million “cloud” data connection center it is building here. It’s the data center operator’s third facility in New Jersey and its second in Clifton.
The three-story, 215,000-square-foot data management center will provide customizable “caged” spaces for any size business to house computer-networked data operations. The structure at Two Peekay Drive, formerly the site of Abrachem Chemical Corp., is being built in conjunction with Mountain Development Corp.
Work has been underway for several months, but an official groundbreaking Friday drew a bevy of officials, including Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno and the Clifton mayor, Jim Anzaldi. “Officially breaking ground on the Peekay facility significantly increases our role in the New Jersey business community,” said Eric Shepcaro, chief executive of Telx. “During this challenging economic time our investment in this new facility represents Telx’s commitment to business development and high-tech job growth in the tri-state area.”
Guadagno commended Telx as an “incubator of investment and economic growth” in New Jersey. For one thing, construction of the new web-based, or “cloud-based,” connection center has created 250 building-trade jobs, she noted.
Telx officials noted that clients of the new data center will be able to make use of connectivity to more than 400 data carriers, business exchanges and enterprises to help grow their own enterprises. “Our Peekay Cloud Connection Center offers customers secure and direct access to Telx’s expansive ecosystem with close proximity to the most important telecommunications and fiber hubs in the world,” said Michael Terlizzi, EVP of engineering & construction for Telx.
The new Clifton facility will be ninth of what the company calls its C3 Cloud Connection Centers located around the country, which it says bring together the “world’s most important networks in a secure, highly flexible cloud of interconnectivity.” These centers provide secure networking environments for carriers, ISP’s, content providers, financial service companies, bio-pharma and enterprise businesses, according to Telx.
The Clifton center is being built according to the US Green Building Council’s LEED requirements for energy efficiency and use of environmentally-friendly materials. Telx has its headquarters in New York City, with five facilities in the New York City metro area, two in Chicago, two in Dallas, four in California and others in Atlanta, Miami, Phoenix and Charlotte.