CoreSite wants to expand footprint downtown with second big data center

Data center giant CoreSite is in expansion mode in Los Angeles.

Less than three months after extending its lease and adding space at the One Wilshire telecommunications center, the company has big plans near Union Station.

CoreSite wants to build a four-story, 180,000-square-foot data center at 900 N. Alameda Street, Urbanize reported, citing city planning commission documents. The 93-foot tall data center would have a 216-vehicle parking structure.

CoreSite’s proposed data center would supplement its existing 460,000-square-foot facility next door, at the United States Post Office Terminal Annex. The new structure would run along Bauchet Street and connect to that property via a covered walkway.

Investor interest in data centers is strong, so strong that some experts believe it’s a long-term bet, able to weather an economic downturn. Investment in the sector reached near-record levels last year.

Some data center-only real estate investment trusts have posted double-digit growth in funds in 2018. That compares to the average of less than 3 percent growth of traditional REITs so far this year.

The city is scheduled to consider the proposal this week, and a staff report already recommended approval. The 1996 Alameda District Specific Plan called for an office building to be developed on the site, but the staff report argues that a data center is a “critical use” needed downtown. [Urbanize] — Dennis Lynch