US data centre investor Dupont Fabros Technologies is close to making its UK debut after placing a major regeneration site in Dagenham, Essex, under offer.
The US REIT is buying the majority of pharmaceutical giant Sanofi Aventis’s 108-acre manufacturing facility, where it intends to build a 600,000 sq ft data centre.
Sainsbury’s has also placed 10 acres of the site under offer for a 60,000 sq ft supermarket.
It is understood that DFT and Sainsbury’s are paying a little below the quoting price of £750,000 per acre.
Sanofi will cease operations at the site, known as businesseast, in 2013.
DFT’s arrival in the UK follows a major play last month by its US data centre rival Digital Realty Trust, which bought three data centres totalling 761,000 sq ft in Woking, Watford and Croydon from Andy Ruhan’s Sentrum for £715.9m.
A source said: “DFT will build one of Europe’s largest data centres. The Americans are very interested in the market around London, which is still one of the world’s financial powerhouses.”
Savills is acting for Sanofi; DFT is advised by GVA.
Olympic data hub
The proposed data centre for the post-Games use of the Olympic media centre could become a hub for several of London’s 33 boroughs. Newham council joint head of IT Geoff Connell, who is leading a data consolidation project, has held talks with iCITY, which Estates Gazette revealed as the preferred occupier for the media centre earlier this month. iCITY’s plans include a 300,000 sq ft data centre.
nick.whitten@estatesgazette.com
