Hillwood, Archon bring more telecom space to Big D Two of Dallas' business engines are driving more telecom space to the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. Locally based Hillwood has formed Teraspace Networks (TSN) to develop carrier hotels and Web-hosting facilities in Dallas; Austin, Texas; Phoenix; Houston; and Denver, while locally based Archon Group has acquired Prestonwood Town Center mall and 40 surrounding acres to convert into carrier hotel space.
TSN already has broken ground on the 1.1 million sq. ft. Alliance Gateway Internet Data Center in the Gateway section of Hillwood's Alliance development in Fort Worth, Texas. Phase one includes a 300,000 sq. ft. complex scheduled for completion in March 2001. The Alliance Gateway Data Center will be interconnected via a fiber optic Metropolitan Area Network.
Hillwood has hired James R. Trout to serve as president of Teraspace Networks. Prior to joining Hillwood, Trout served as vice president of corporate facilities for Denver-based ProLogis.
In partnership with New York-based Goldman Sachs & Co.'s Whitehall Funds, Archon will convert Prestonwood Town Center into GENISUS Dallas North, a 1.3 million sq. ft. telecom and data complex. Archon acquired the property from Dallas investor Sam Ware, who is president of Lazarus Property Corp. Parcels of the Prestonwood development that are not slated for telecom space will include office, retail, apartments and restaurant space. The development is located near the intersection of the Dallas North Tollway and Belt Line Road.
Phase-one construction has begun at GENISUS, but Neiman Marcus and Lord & Taylor will operate stores at the site until August 2001, according to the Dallas Business Journal.
Vectiv secures round-two funding with AC Ventures, Convergence Berkeley, Calif.-based Vectiv Corp. has secured $13 million in its second round of financing led by AC Ventures, the venture capital arm of New York-based Andersen Consulting, and Silicon Valley based Convergence Partners. With the second round of funding, Scott Killips, AC Ventures partner, will join Vectiv's board of directors.
In July, Andersen Consulting and Vectiv announced plans to develop Vectiv's first product, the Strategic Real Estate Solution (SRES), an online tool that makes it easier to identify, evaluate, acquire and develop commercial real estate sites more efficiently. Launched in October, the SRES is currently undergoing pilot testing and will be available in this quarter.
US Data Port banking on Northern Virginia Washington, D.C.-based Newmark & Bank has arranged the acquisition of 210 acres of land at Virginia Gateway in Gainesville, Va., on behalf of San Jose, Calif.-based US Data Port Inc. US Data Port acquired the property from The Peterson Cos., Fairfax, Va., for more than $23 million.
US Data Port plans to build a high-tech office campus with more than 3 million sq. ft. for Web-hosting, co-location and data center use. The company plans to develop the $800 million project during the next five years.
MortgageRamp, EquityCity team up for online debt, equity Charlotte, N.C.-based Mortgage-Ramp.com and Denver-based Equity-City.com have partnered to provide an online financing solution that offers borrowers access to equity capital, permanent mortgages and due diligence and valuation services through the integrated Web sites.
MortgageRamp and EquityCity will integrate their technology platforms to offer a debt/equity solution to developers and owners as well as brokers who want to access equity and permanent mortgage capital. MortgageRamp users can access EquityCity's equity placement Web site, while EquityCity users can access MortgageRamp's suite of products including valuation, underwriting and due diligence.
Everest Broadband lines 'em up across the nation Fort Lee, N.J.-based Everest Broadband closed out 2000 with a flurry of broadband contracts in New York and throughout the country. Four of the new contracts mark Everest's debut in Denver, Houston, Miami and Des Moines, Iowa.
In New York, Everest will provide broadband communications to tenants at Telecom Center@Bush Terminal in Brooklyn. Owned by locally based Industry City Associates, The Bush Terminal Technology Campus is in the early stages of transforming 10 industrial buildings totaling 5 million sq. ft. into high-tech telecom and office space.
Also in New York, Everest has landed a contract to provide broadband services to a 2.5 million sq. ft. portfolio owned by locally based Cammeby's International. The Cammeby's portfolio includes seven Class-A properties, with five buildings in Manhattan, one building in Queens and an office campus in Garden City, N.J.
Expanding outside the Big Apple, Everest has signed contracts to provide broadband services for Des Moines-based R&R Realty's 5 million sq. ft. portfolio; Chicago-based Garland Office LLC's portfolio, including the Windy City's Garland Office Building; Houston-based Hampshire Properties' nearly 2 million sq. ft. portfolio; and Principal Investment Group's Miami properties. The four new deals represent opportunities for Everest to provide broadband for 8 million sq. ft. of office space.