Landmark Dividend has acquired approximately 1.2 million square feet of mission-critical space within the Quantum Park development in “Data Center Alley” in Ashburn, Virginia. The deal also includes vacant land that can be used to develop hyperscale data centers.
The deal gives Landmark Dividend its first presence in Ashburn, the nexus of the huge cloud cluster in Northern Virginia. Although it is a new player in Ashburn, Landmark Dividend is an experienced player in the data center market, with 35 data center acquisitions and more than $1 billion in digital infrastructure assets under management.
Quantum Park was initially the home of UUNet Communications, a pioneer in the early Internet that helped establish Ashburn as the nexus of network connectivity, and a magnet for data centers – laying the groundwork for the current cloud computing building boom. Verizon has been the lead tenant in recent years, and operates data centers and mission-critical telecom infrastructure at the facility.
“We are extremely excited to expand our portfolio into Northern Virginia, the data center capital of the world,” said John Dobo, Executive Vice President of Landmark’s Digital Infrastructure division. “Quantum Park, with its ample power and cooling, dense connectivity and nearly 50 acres of available land for development, provides Landmark the opportunity to capitalize on the rapid expansion of digital infrastructure in Northern Virginia.”
Landmark Steps Up Data Center Focus
Landmark Dividend has a long track record of diversified investments in cell towers, outdoor advertising and solar power. In recent years it has stepped up its investment in data centers, which aligns well with the playbook of parent company DigitalBridge, a digital infrastructure specialist which acquired Landmark Dividend in June.
Tim Brazy, the Chief Executive Officer of Landmark Dividend, said the Quantum Park transaction “demonstrates our greater resources and capabilities since the acquisition” by DigitalBridge.
“The Quantum Park transaction is a testament to the successful digital infrastructure platform and team that we have built at Landmark,” said Brazy. “We believe we are extremely well-positioned to build on our successful track record and strengthen our leadership position within the growing digital infrastructure market.”
Landmark typically buys existing data centers that are either fully or partially leased. Recent acquisitions include a partially-leased facility in the Phoenix market, a Ft. Lauderdale data center that is fully leased by Flexential, and three properties purchased from Chirisa Investments, which operates Digital Fortress.
More Data Centers for Quantum Park
That strategy offers both stable income from existing tenants and the prospect for capital appreciation by filling vacant space and expanding the leaseable capacity. Landmark’s new Ashburn property offers the ability to pursue both strategies at scale.
Quantum Park includes a mix of office space and mission-critical data center and technical space. There are adjacent data centers owned by Equinix and Aligned, which operate independently and are not part of the transaction.
Verizon will continue to be among the tenants at the property. Landmark Dividend says there is about 3 to 5 megawatts of existing data center space available for leasing, and sees upside in the 50 acres of land for future development. Quantum Park offers access to 24 carriers ,with 32.5 megawatts (MW) of power available for data center development, and an additional 32.5 MWs of power being brought to the site.
Data Center Frontier is edited by Rich Miller, the data center industry’s most experienced journalist. For more than 20 years, Rich has profiled the key role played by data centers in the Internet revolution.