Last week was quite a week for Clifton, New Jersey, from a datacenter enthusiasts’ perspective. First, Telx disclosed a 15,000-square-foot expansion to its Clifton datacenter facility at 100 Delawanna Avenue. Just days later, the owner of that facility, Mountain Development Corp., disclosed it would purchase the adjacent facility to expand upon its ‘Mountain Technology Center.’ The building, 2 Peekay Drive, has a gross 212,748 square feet over three stories. Mountain Development purchased the facility from chemical company Abrachem Group. Mountain Development expects the repurposing project to cost $14m. The project is slated for a completion sometime in 2013. Thus far, Mountain Development is in negotiations regarding potential preleases; however, no contacts have materialized yet. The Mountain Technology Center will not only include the two datacenters, but also a 7-story office building on Delawanna Avenue.
About Mountain Development Corp
Mountain Development (MDC) is full-service real estate company that has been involved in the development and repositioning of commercial property for over 30 years. Its ventures serve to create value-added real estate investments that provide returns for principals and equity partners. MDC has established relationships with high net worth individuals, investment funds, institutions and hedge funds, which invest alongside the company in real estate deals that fit within their respective parameters. All of Mountain Development’s departments are run in-house and its primary area of focus is property in the northeastern United States. The company has in-house development, accounting, property management, construction, leasing and marketing staff. The company’s portfolio includes properties in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.
T1R take
There has been a flurry of updates in the New Jersey datacenter market as of late. But keep in mind that the New York/New Jersey metro area is also the largest metro economy in North America with the highest GDP of every metro market as well as being a top global financial center, which is why we continue to see so much datacenter activity in the area. Just to name a few, Equinix disclosed plans to expand its facility in Secaucus, FiberMedia Group completed upgrades to its facility, also in Secaucus, and i/o Data Centers entered the New Jersey market.
The New Jersey datacenter market is considered part of the New York City metro market; however, it carries many differentiating characteristics that not only distinguishes it from the MTDC market in NYC proper, but also marks it as, perhaps, a more lucrative area to establish MTDC services. The New Jersey cities that are home to datacenters – Secaucus, Clifton, Mahwah, Jersey City – are right across the Hudson from Manhattan, providing low-latency connections with the New York Stock Exchange. Proving this claim, the NYSE itself has placed its datacenter in Mahwah. Furthermore, much of these areas have plenty of vacant space, offering MTDC providers opportunities to build premium greenfield facilities, which is not possible in the city.