From Real Estate Bisnow – Charlotte

It might not look that exciting (we were hoping it would look more like the inside of HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey), but facilities like this data center are leading the move to the cloud. They’re the fortresses of the modern age, with uninterruptible power, tough HVAC systems, and around-the-clock security and monitoring. They’re also leading real estate development in the Charlotte area. Apple is well known for its sprawling data center in southern Catawba County, but hometown data center specialist Peak 10 is another aggressive player. In late April, the company said it was building a 62k SF data center near UNC-Charlotte (in phases; the first will be about 15k SF). The property will be the company’s 23rd data center since its founding in 2000.

Peak 10 CEO David Jones (seen in this vidcap announcing the new data center at a Charlotte Chamber meeting) said that Charlotte’s airport hub is important to the company’s nationwide operations because an “executive presence is important in the markets we serve.” But as a location for a data center, Charlotte has some advantages, such as an available pool of employees. (The new data center will employ about 10 people initially.) Currently, the company has 35k SF of data space in south Charlotte, while the new facility will be on the other side of the metro area. Peak 10 will have invested about $50M in the Charlotte area once the new data center is fully built out.