The 171,000 square feet of data center space is turn-key space that the company's CEO, Michael F. Foust, described as "the strongest first quarter on record for turn-key data center leases" for the company. To keep up with this level of demand for our turn-key space, we have accelerated plans to bring on additional space in select markets, such as Northern Virginia, where we are fully leased," Foust said.

Digital Realty's turn-key facilities provide environments for supporting mission critical infrastructure, with advanced cooling, power, redundancy, and sustainability features "to ensure that critical applications are available while optimizing energy efficiency," the company says. Digital Realty Trust's 84 properties comprise approximately 14.9 million square feet as of Feb. 25, including 1.8 million square feet of space held for redevelopment.

The company's report on first-quarter leasing follows a recent study by Digital Realty stating that the widespread expansion of data centers will continue this year and into 2011.

Among the leases that the San Francisco-based REIT has signed recently is a deal with SoftLayer Technologies Inc., which has leased 50,000 square feet from to relocate its headquarters from Plano, TX to Farmers Branch. Also, in Northern Virginia, it inked two leases for its newly completed data center that will take up most of the space in the 132,300 square foot facility.