American Real Estate Partners Has Data Center Ambitions in Ashburn
AREP considers data center development.
By Rich Miller
For the past five years, American Real Estate Partners has been the steward of a piece of Northern Virginia’s data center history. The developer is now looking to own a bigger part of Ashburn’s cloud-powered future.
American Real Estate Partners (AREP) owns Quantum Park, the former UUNet site that was a key connectivity hub dating to the early days of the Internet. In January, the company acquired a property near the center of “Data Center Alley” where it plans to build a new data center. It’s the first step in a strategic expansion into the data center market in Loudoun County and beyond.
“We believe the data center market is still in its early growth stages, and there’s a long trend for the development of data centers,” said Doug Fleit, the CEO and co-founder of American Real Estate Partners.
AREP teamed with investment firm Harrison Street Partners to acquire a 10-acre property at the intersection of Beaumeade Circle and Loudoun County Parkway in Ashburn, where they plan to build a 265,000 square foot data center. Harrison Street has stepped up its focus on the data center sector, and Fleit is excited about the possibilities.
