6 am | Antony Savvas
DC BLOX started building its $ 200 million data center in Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina, while continuing its expansion to the southern United States.
Greenville is located on an 8.5-acre campus in Global Business Park, just off Interstate 85. Upon completion of the construction, the facility will feature six data halls with 54,000 square feet of data center space, with a critical load capable of support 18 MW of energy. It will also feature around 7,000 square feet of secure storage and shared office space.
Initially, the site will employ five employees and will have an expected investment of “more than $ 200 million” between DC BLOX and its tenant customers over the next few years, the company said.
The facility was designed according to the Uptime Institute’s Tier III standards and will be able to protect Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), providing businesses and government entities across South Carolina with a highly secure and interconnected data center, said DC BLOX.
With an initial capacity of 1 MW of critical IT load, the first phase of Greenville is scheduled to be completed in the third quarter of 2021.
Greenville will offer access to the private operator and redundant DC BLOX-level mesh network, interconnecting the company’s data center portfolio in Atlanta, GA; Birmingham, AL; Chattanooga, TN and Huntsville, AL.
“Companies in South Carolina that adopt digital transformation strategies must have access to the most reliable and interconnected facilities in the state,” said Mark Masi, director of operations at DC BLOX. “Whether it’s a prime location, cloud storage, disaster recovery or the expanded data center space they want, companies can take advantage of reliable and efficient services and private, high-speed, low-latency network access for providers cloud and applications at scale. ”
“DC BLOX brings well-paid jobs and significant capital investment to Greenville County,” added Willis Meadows, chairman of the Greenville County Council and a member of the Greenville Area Development Corporation board. “The data center will help Greenville accelerate economic growth and build our reputation as a world-class technology destination.”
Last month, DC BLOX secured $ 187 million in long-term financing led by the Post Road Group and Bain Capital Credit. The company said the money will be used to refinance its existing credit lines, add liquidity to its balance sheet and provide additional capital to finance ongoing investments in existing and new data center capacity.