A 27 Megawatt Turn Key Data Center: Iron Mountain has signed a 27-megawatt lease for a new data center in Frankfurt, Germany, the company said this week. The huge deal serves notice that Iron Mountain has joined the top tier of data center developers that can provide capacity to the largest clients.
The large pre-lease with a U.S.-based Fortune 100 customer also highlights the continuing demand for data centers in Europe, particularly in the “FLAP” markets of Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam and Paris.
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As the financial capital of mainland Europe, Frankfurt is the focus of intense development by the largest data center companies, including Digital Realty and CyrusOne, who both have new campuses under construction. In landing this huge deal, Iron Mountain showcased its ability to compete for the biggest deals with its largest rivals.
“We’re excited for the opportunity to serve as a strategic partner to an important Fortune 100 company,” said Eric Boonstra, Vice President & GM Western Europe, Data Centers at Iron Mountain. “We are building upon our already strong European data center offerings to provide even more flexible, scalable options for customers now and into the future.”
Nine Megawatts in First Phase
As part of the agreement, the customer will lease the entire 27 megawatt turn-key data center, with the initial 9 megawatts of power capacity to be taken upon lease commencement. The customer is committed to scaling to the full 27 megawatts of power capacity within five years.
The lease is expected to commence in the second quarter of 2021, and has an initial term of ten years, with renewal options.
Iron Mountain pre-leased approximately 280,000 square feet, or 100% of its FRA-1 data center, which is being developed in three 9-megawatt phases, with Phase 1 expected to be complete in the second quarter of 2021. Full build-out of the data center is expected in the second quarter of 2022.
This is the first lease larger than 7 megawatts that Iron Mountain has landed, but the company has been preparing to deliver on opportunities for larger deals. Boonstra said creating these data centers is different from a traditional multi-tenant “retail” colocation facility.
“For retail customers, a couple of racks or a module works fine providing them a fully fitted out solution, but these customers need a different approach,” Boonstra told DCF in an update on European data center markets. “To start, they simply require a lot of white space ,and it happens that they have specific requirements which need to be taken care of in the design.
“The approach is different as well, as some providers are looking for a powered shell and want to know the amount of MW’s and some need a more fitted out solution where we help them out with more than just the basics,” he added.
“It’s really about thinking along with the customer to create mutually beneficial solutions where we can serve as a long term partner for data protection, connection and activation.”
With a single lease, Iron Mountain has already eclipsed its 2020 goal of new leasing of 15 to 20 megawatts.
