Commercial Investment Real Estate September/October 2017 | Page 42

REGIONAL
OUTLOOK
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Digital Bridge Holdings LLC and its consortium partners, including
TIAA Investments and Public Sector Pension Investment Board, pur-
chased Vantage Data Centers in Santa Clara, Calif., for $1 billion from
Silver Lakes Partners. The demand for data center facilities is high
because of ever-stronger mobile devices and the proliferation of more
streaming content. Hyperscale facilities such as Vantage use virtual
servers to accommodate increasing computer demands without need-
ing more physical space, cooling, or electrical power. “An enormous
amount of [construction] activity continues to occur as preleasing in
future projects,” says Jeff West, CBRE director of data center research.
“More than 111 megawatts of preleased space are under construction
and are indicative of the sheer magnitude of leasing being driven by
cloud service providers over the past several quarters.”
Silicon Valley’s Biggest Deal
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Panama Canal Boosts New
Development in Houston
{WEST}
Cannabis
Rocks in
Denver
Industrial
Market
Last year’s expansion of the Panama Canal has resulted in a
new 500,000-sf industrial development in Houston. Avera Cos.
will build a railcar storage and expansion distribution facility,
which includes 10,000 feet of rail, for Vinmar International, a
Houston-based petrochemical marketer and distributor, and a
major user of the Panama Canal.
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September | October 2017
Marijuana growers continue to expand in Denver’s industrial
market. Currently, they lease 4.2 msf and have expanded
14 percent since Q4 2015, according to CBRE. Cannabis
operations are concentrated solely in Class B and C industrial
space, with 63.4 percent in warehouse space. The average
lease rate for marijuana growers was $14.19 psf triple net,
which is two to three times higher than the average warehouse
lease rates in the four top cultivation submarkets. Consolida-
tion continues in the marijuana industry, with well-established
operators buying smaller mom-and-pop growers.
COMMERCIAL INVESTMENT REAL ESTATE