Data Center Services
Data centers are a central part of business infrastructure and present a range of real estate, IT, power, and environmental challenges that are unique to any other industry or property type.
HOW WE HELP
We are one of the only law firms with our fingers on the pulse of this unique asset class, leveraging our unparalleled knowledge to apply the latest trends and deal terms to our clients transactions. We act as credentialed experts to bring a thorough understanding of the complex, technical, and operational issues surrounding data center transactions. With our practice depth in real estate, technology, finance, energy, and data security, we are able to provide clients with a holistic approach to data center transactions.
Our clients are owners, investors, and occupants of data centers who are engaged in the development, leasing/licensing, financing, purchasing, or selling of data center facilities in the US, Europe and Asia.
OUR SERVICES
Clients seek our advice on transactions that include:
- Data center leases/licenses (build-to-suit, wholesale, and retail), colocation agreements, hosting agreements and service level agreements (SLAs)
- Sale and leasebacks of data centers
- Initial planning of data center locations and ground up development of data centers
- Acquisition, due diligence, and disposition of data centers, including joint venture agreements
- Cloud outsourcing agreements as part of a hybrid solution
- Data center operator and vendor agreements
- Fiber access agreements, fiber ring agreements, and Indefeasible Rights of Use Agreements (IRU)
- Architect design agreements and construction contracts for the development and construction of data centers
- Power purchase agreements and renewable energy contracts
- Agreements relating to data center operations including telecommunications, rights-of-way, and tax incentives
- Financing, including construction, term, mezzanine, and revolving credit lines
- Environmental issues unique to data centers
THE SEYFARTH EXPERIENCE
We pride ourselves on inventive solutions to data center challenges. A new and burgeoning area of the data center real estate industry is the sale and partial leaseback of older data centers that were originally built by companies 10-20 years ago for their own use. Many of these companies never fully utilized their data centers and in fact shrank inside of them over time and now seek to monetize on their investment. We work with Fortune 1000 clients and large corporations to create a sale-leaseback structure in advance of putting their property in the marketplace so that our client is in the best position to get the deal they want. Our extensive experience on the corporate side is a key differentiator when we represent real estate investors purchasing these sale-leaseback data centers.
We also work with large corporations that have a national or global data center footprint to create a suite of forms—purchase agreements, leases build-to-suit, critical data memos, title, and surveys—to streamline and simplify the process and have a more consistent risk allocation across their properties. In the long run this reduces outside legal spend and creates a more repeatable process for each transaction.
Our data center capabilities are best showcased through real examples of our work. Examples of recent transactions include:
- Represent one of the largest public/private cloud providers in the acquisition and leasing of buildings (both existing and build-to-suit) and land across the US for the development and operation of hyperscale data centers.
- Represented a client in the acquisition and partial leaseback of a 3 MW data center facility from a leading insurance company in New Albany, Ohio.
- Represent Comcast Corporation in managing its entire data center portfolio. We recently completed a 12 MW build-to-suit Tier III+ single occupant data center lease with purchase options opposite T5 Data Centers in Hillsboro, Oregon, and an 8 MW wholesale lease opposite Digital Realty Trust in Ashburn, Virginia. We have also advised on numerous regional colocation data center leases and licenses ranging from 1.2 MW to 250 KW.
- Represented a leading data center developer and operator in the US, UK, Brazil, and Netherlands in buying and financing the development of wholesale and colocation data centers, and placing hyperscale users in those data centers.
- Represent a large online retailer in purchasing land and buildings for data center development and entering into build-to-suit leases with developers.
- Represented a commercial real estate advisor in an $87 million acquisition of a 223,000 square foot data center and office/parking structure under development in Centennial, Colorado.
- Represented an IT infrastructure company in the sale-leaseback of a 12 MW Tier III+ data center facility to T5 Data Centers.
- Represented a private equity buyer of a US-based data center platform company and its portfolio of eight data center properties.
- Represented a real estate investment company in the sale of a carrier hotel/data center/office building in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
- Represented a national retailer in their sale and partial leaseback of a 4 MW data center facility in San Antonio, Texas.
- Represented a leading financial institution in a 8 MW build-to-suit Tier II+ single occupant lease with purchase options in Minneapolis, Minnesota. We also represented a health care company in its 2 MW wholesale lease in the same park.
- Represented a private investment firm in a $279 million acquisition of two data centers and office buildings in Seattle, Washington.
- Represented numerous companies and professional services firms in data center leases, licenses, colocation and server hosting agreements.
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Data centers are a central part of business infrastructure and present a range of real estate, IT, power, and environmental challenges that are unique to any other industry or property type.
HOW WE HELP
We are one of the only law firms with our fingers on the pulse of this unique asset class, leveraging our unparalleled knowledge to apply the latest trends and deal terms to our clients transactions. We act as credentialed experts to bring a thorough understanding of the complex, technical, and operational issues surrounding data center transactions. With our practice depth in real estate, technology, finance, energy, and data security, we are able to provide clients with a holistic approach to data center transactions.
Our clients are owners, investors, and occupants of data centers who are engaged in the development, leasing/licensing, financing, purchasing, or selling of data center facilities in the US, Europe and Asia.
OUR SERVICES
Clients seek our advice on transactions that include:
- Data center leases/licenses (build-to-suit, wholesale, and retail), colocation agreements, hosting agreements and service level agreements (SLAs)
- Sale and leasebacks of data centers
- Initial planning of data center locations and ground up development of data centers
- Acquisition, due diligence, and disposition of data centers, including joint venture agreements
- Cloud outsourcing agreements as part of a hybrid solution
- Data center operator and vendor agreements
- Fiber access agreements, fiber ring agreements, and Indefeasible Rights of Use Agreements (IRU)
- Architect design agreements and construction contracts for the development and construction of data centers
- Power purchase agreements and renewable energy contracts
- Agreements relating to data center operations including telecommunications, rights-of-way, and tax incentives
- Financing, including construction, term, mezzanine, and revolving credit lines
- Environmental issues unique to data centers
THE SEYFARTH EXPERIENCE
We pride ourselves on inventive solutions to data center challenges. A new and burgeoning area of the data center real estate industry is the sale and partial leaseback of older data centers that were originally built by companies 10-20 years ago for their own use. Many of these companies never fully utilized their data centers and in fact shrank inside of them over time and now seek to monetize on their investment. We work with Fortune 1000 clients and large corporations to create a sale-leaseback structure in advance of putting their property in the marketplace so that our client is in the best position to get the deal they want. Our extensive experience on the corporate side is a key differentiator when we represent real estate investors purchasing these sale-leaseback data centers.
We also work with large corporations that have a national or global data center footprint to create a suite of forms—purchase agreements, leases build-to-suit, critical data memos, title, and surveys—to streamline and simplify the process and have a more consistent risk allocation across their properties. In the long run this reduces outside legal spend and creates a more repeatable process for each transaction.
Our data center capabilities are best showcased through real examples of our work. Examples of recent transactions include:
- Represent one of the largest public/private cloud providers in the acquisition and leasing of buildings (both existing and build-to-suit) and land across the US for the development and operation of hyperscale data centers.
- Represented a client in the acquisition and partial leaseback of a 3 MW data center facility from a leading insurance company in New Albany, Ohio.
- Represent Comcast Corporation in managing its entire data center portfolio. We recently completed a 12 MW build-to-suit Tier III+ single occupant data center lease with purchase options opposite T5 Data Centers in Hillsboro, Oregon, and an 8 MW wholesale lease opposite Digital Realty Trust in Ashburn, Virginia. We have also advised on numerous regional colocation data center leases and licenses ranging from 1.2 MW to 250 KW.
- Represented a leading data center developer and operator in the US, UK, Brazil, and Netherlands in buying and financing the development of wholesale and colocation data centers, and placing hyperscale users in those data centers.
- Represent a large online retailer in purchasing land and buildings for data center development and entering into build-to-suit leases with developers.
- Represented a commercial real estate advisor in an $87 million acquisition of a 223,000 square foot data center and office/parking structure under development in Centennial, Colorado.
- Represented an IT infrastructure company in the sale-leaseback of a 12 MW Tier III+ data center facility to T5 Data Centers.
- Represented a private equity buyer of a US-based data center platform company and its portfolio of eight data center properties.
- Represented a real estate investment company in the sale of a carrier hotel/data center/office building in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
- Represented a national retailer in their sale and partial leaseback of a 4 MW data center facility in San Antonio, Texas.
- Represented a leading financial institution in a 8 MW build-to-suit Tier II+ single occupant lease with purchase options in Minneapolis, Minnesota. We also represented a health care company in its 2 MW wholesale lease in the same park.
- Represented a private investment firm in a $279 million acquisition of two data centers and office buildings in Seattle, Washington.
- Represented numerous companies and professional services firms in data center leases, licenses, colocation and server hosting agreements.
Related News & Insights
-
Firm News
02/26/2024
Seyfarth’s 2024 Real Estate Market Sentiment Survey Sees Greater Opportunity in 2024 Amid a More Favorable Interest Rate Outlook
-
Firm News
03/01/2023
Seyfarth’s 2023 Real Estate Market Sentiment Survey Examines the Industry’s Current Market Sentiment as it Navigates an Uncertain Economic Outlook
-
Media Mentions
02/23/2023
Michael Rechtin Discusses how Virginia Election Will Affect the Future of Data Centers in Bisnow
-
Media Mentions
01/19/2023
Michael Rechtin discusses how Northern Virginia is no longer the world's leading data center market in Bisnow