State Tries to Rent Out Huge Data Center

The state’s new Consolidated Technology Services (CTS) agency is moving ahead with a plan to rent out excess capacity in the significantly overbuilt State Data Center it manages, director Rob St. John said. Four data halls were built and only two were ready for a tenant making them nearly ready for use with minimal additional upgrades. But the state won’t need both halls, and St. John said the state is backing off its rush to consolidate more than 40 data centers now spread out in agencies across Thurston County.

“Consolidations are happening naturally. At this point it doesn’t look like we’ll have a need for more than Hall 1. We have a broker we have contracted with who is looking at marketing Hall 2,” St. John said in an interview. Seattle-based broker Jones Lang LaSalle is trying to lease up to 30,000 square feet of the space for the state.

The CTS and DES agencies now are the main tenants in the $255 million complex at Jefferson Street that includes some 260,000 square feet of office space. The Office of Financial Management said state costs for data services should fall below previous costs in five years due to cuts of more than 60 staffers. But tenant costs for space in the new office building are expected to remain higher to the tune of about $30.4 million through fiscal year 2017, according to the consultant. St. John said CTS is hoping that anyone willing to rent space in the data halls cannot only pay rent but also finish the upgrades.

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