650,000-SF Metro Tech Center Powers Up Substation

The game plan, officials say, is to provide "abundant and redundant power at the lowest possible cost." The move caps a transformation of the facility from a warehouse into a site well suited for data centers and telecom companies.

The Metro Technology Center is a development of New York City-based MetroNexus, a Morgan Stanley Real Estate Funds Enterprise in partnership with Macfarlan Real Estate Services of Dallas. James Bailey and Andrew Spence, both of Cushman & Wakefield of Texas Inc.'s Houston office, are tasked with leasing the development.

A similar undertaking was completed for the 940,000-sf Metro Technology Center-Atlanta and another is nearing the finish line for the 1.2 million-sf MetroNexus Technology Center-Jersey City. Each power station costs more than $8 million.

"It was important for us to make this commitment up front," Tom Zacharias, MetroNexus senior vice president of development, says in a prepared statement. "The Houston Technology Center is among the best connected in the country from a power perspective." Source One, which oversees facilities in 14 states and Canada, is managing the Houston power center.

Carter Burgess of Ft. Worth designed the Houston facility's substation that's connected to Houston's Reliant Energy. Dashiell Corp. was the general contractor for the project, which has been under way since March.