Sitting at the convergence of four global subsea cables in Henrico, VA is a state-of-the-art connectivity hub. This location includes access to over 20 different fiber networks and record-breaking data speeds. QTS, a real estate investment trust company focused on data centers, took the opportunity to use this prime spot for a multi-building collection of data centers.
These large warehouse-style buildings include over a million square feet of networked computer servers, flexible workspaces and leasable office space.
Wondering how such an expansive campus got its start? QTS contacted Townes Site Engineering in 2014 when they purchased the property previously used as a semiconductor manufacturer.
The first initiative was to retrofit the existing building to serve as a data center. Following those efforts, Townes kicked off the civil engineering for additional structures built from the ground up. Two years ago, our multidisciplinary team started five new building projects bringing the campus to over a million square feet overall. But this impressive square footage is not the final milestone for QTS’s ambitious planning.
QTS and Townes have been working diligently to ensure each data center has fast-paced turnarounds. There are as little as 18 months passing from the start of design to the building’s official certificate of occupancy.
This massive undertaking has even warranted new utilities resources in the region. QTS and Townes are in the process of working with Dominion Energy to build two substations to power the data centers.
It has already been a great success for economic development in Henrico. Each data center has the potential to draw a number of different businesses searching for server space to the area. Thanks to the prime location and proximity to trans-Atlantic fiber optic cable connections, it has been a major draw for businesses with large digital needs.
QTS has speed of delivery, property and entitlements already set up in order to get new clients on board quickly. They maintain the data centers while different end users lease the space.
With over a million total square feet, several separate warehouses and two substations – this project has been all hands on deck.
QTS has entrusted Townes with the civil engineering, environmental services, geotechnical testing and surveying needed to make these data centers a reality. Our full list of offerings have included:
It has included a significant number of team members from each discipline in our office. The team looks forward to these opportunities to collaborate on such a large scale. Every day Townes is participating in calls that pull from different departments and partners.
As the next years of this master planned project unfold, the Townes team is fully prepared to tackle any new challenges and bring efficiency to every step of the job. If you’re looking for a team well-poised for undertaking industrial projects, give our multidisciplinary firm a call today.
