Digital Realty has sold a former data center outside Minneapolis, Minnesota, to a local government housing agency.
Finance & Commerce report the Dakota County Community Development Agency last month acquired 1500 Towerview Road in Eagan for $6.25 million. The seller was Digital Towerview LLC, an affiliate of Digital Realty.
Sat on 39 acres, the 329,000 square foot (30,565 sqm), 8MW data center was previously fully leased to Delta Air Lines. Digital acquired the single-story site from Delta in 2013 in a $37 million sale-leaseback deal. The lease was originally for eight years.
A Dakota County CDA official told Finance & Commerce on Thursday that the plan is to demolish the data center, clear the site, and eventually build new housing there in line with the city’s plans. Based on a redevelopment analysis, the city envisions up to 1,100 new homes.
Tony Schertler, executive director of the Dakota County CDA, said: “We have redevelopment powers and redevelopment resources, so we realized that they have to reposition that property to accomplish that vision. We thought, ‘Why don’t we pick it up, clear the site, start addressing the contamination issues, and get it ready for investment that the city’s vision entails?’”
It's unclear exactly when Delta exited the site. BizJournal reported the site was vacant and being marketed for sale in March.
Reportedly built in 1982 and expanded in 1994, it was formerly the headquarters campus of Northwest Airlines, which was acquired by Delta in 2008.
