KANSAS CITY, Mo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Hunt Midwest Real Estate Development and LightEdge Solutions announce that they are breaking ground on an underground regional data center in SubTropolis Technology Center (STC) in Kansas City. LightEdge will be the anchor tenant of STC, a mission critical data center campus, which is owned and operated by Hunt Midwest.
The new LightEdge data center in STC is the result of a unique partnership between the two companies. Hunt Midwest, a full-service real estate development company, is one of multiple entities owned by the Lamar Hunt family. LightEdge is a premier cloud computing, colocation and consulting company owned by Qwest founder Phil Anschutz. LightEdge also operates three other Midwestern data centers.
“This is an ideal partnership,” said Ora Reynolds, president of Hunt Midwest. “Together, Hunt Midwest and LightEdge have all of the pieces needed to create a world-class data center operation.”
LightEdge will open the first phase of its 60,000-square foot underground operation, built to Tier III Standards, within STC during the first quarter of 2014. In addition, the company will use a portion of the six-acre equipment yard located on the exterior surface of STC. LightEdge plans to make a capital investment of nearly $60 million and create 21 new jobs.
“The relationship between LightEdge and Hunt Midwest translates into the convergence of financial strength, best-in-class hosted IT services, experience with hybrid cloud environments, a highly secure and protected location and low kilowatt (kW) power costs compared to other areas of the U.S.,” said Jim Masterson, chief executive officer of LightEdge Solutions.
STC’s naturally hardened limestone infrastructure provides a fortress six times stronger than concrete and features evenly spaced pillars with 40-foot clearance and 16-foot high ceilings. STC offers the ultimate in flexibility and scalability with fiber, power and protected space.
“In the more than 20 years I’ve been involved in data center development and operations, I’ve never seen a property more appropriate for a data center,” said James deVenny, an independent consultant who was co-founder, president and chief executive officer of Dataside LLC, a provider of enterprise data center space, colocation and managed network services.
STC is served by KCP&L, an electric utility known for its award-winning reliability. There are two diverse substations and 161 kV transmission lines on the property.
“Hunt Midwest and LightEdge are creating a best-in-class data center infrastructure that will offer a great combination of redundancy and capacity,” said Chuck Caisley, vice president of marketing and public affairs for KCP&L. “The robust electric transmission and distribution network – with multiple substations in the area and proximity to our generating station – directly supports the needs of the technology industry. In other words, LightEdge’s innovative data center facility at SubTropolis Technology Center makes perfect sense.”
LightEdge expects to have the following carriers available when operations begin: AT&T, Surewest, TW Telecom, Time Warner, Unite and Windstream. Connection with multiple providers, and the nearby 1102 Grand carrier hotel, will provide local private network connectivity up to 10 gigabits per second (Gbps), plus connectivity to the LightEdge cloud for access to other LightEdge data centers.
About SubTropolis Technology Center (STC)
SubTropolis Technology Center is a mission critical data center campus that provides a highly scalable infrastructure for millions of square feet of contiguous expansion; redundant power with low kW costs; and fiber networking to meet the ever-growing bandwidth requirements of businesses. STC is served by KCP&L, with two diverse substations and 161 kV transmission lines on the property. The eco-friendly underground STC campus is protected by a 150-foot layer of limestone, making it a Tier IV compliant structure. STC provides a Meet-Me-Room for interconnection with major carriers and service providers and a six-acre equipment yard on the exterior surface. In addition to LightEdge Solutions, future phases will include government agencies and enterprise users.
Kansas City-based Hunt Midwest has developed over 6,200 acres of commercial, retail, industrial and residential property, and is owner/developer of SubTropolis, the world’s largest underground business complex. Hunt Midwest is a privately held company owned by the Lamar Hunt family. The Hunt family business is a diverse portfolio of entities involved in real estate, sports/media, energy/resources, private equity, and investments. Marquee entities include the Kansas City Chiefs, Hunt Midwest, Chicago Bulls, United Center, Toyota Stadium and FC Dallas Soccer Club.
LightEdge Solutions offers dynamic end-to-end network, colocation and IT cloud solutions, providing businesses with reliable access to Fortune 100-level infrastructure that quickly adapts and scales to meet changing business requirements. LightEdge, which is owned by The Anschutz Corporation, was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa. LightEdge serves both Midwestern and national companies from its five regional office locations with scalable and customized IT solutions that leverage a fully redundant network backbone and a team of experienced engineers.
