Highbridge Developments has secured £175m in funding to build a data centre at Cobalt Park, North Tyneside.
The data centre will provide 45,875 sq ft of space in eight separate halls and will employ 60 engineers and IT specialists.
Highbridge said building work on the shell will start speculatively in late summer and the facility will be ready for fit-out in March 2010.
Cobalt Park has its own electrical connection directly to the National Grid.
As well as the new data centre, an existing plant, formerly used by design and manufacturer Atmel, has been stripped and is being prepared as a second potential data centre for owner-occupiers. It will provide 38,750 sq ft of space.
Highbridge’s Cobalt Park currently comprises 1.2m sq ft of offices, employing 8,500 people in companies including Procter & Gamble and Santander.
Highbridge director Guy Marsden, said: “Syndicated financing for the project, has been arranged through the Cobalt Data Centre Development Syndicate, a group of investors organised and managed by the tax specialist adviser Chancery Tax, which is secured and fully subscribed.
“Having secured a funding package for such a development project in the recent difficult financial climate will enable capital intensive data centre projects to proceed at Cobalt.”
