Equinix has closed a data center in Paris and signed a new pre-leasing deal with French real estate firm Icade for a new development in the French capital.
In its Q4 2022 earnings report released last week, the colo firm said it closed PA1. Located at 167 Rue de la Belle Étoile, the purpose-built facility offered around 28,000 sq ft (2,600 sqm) of colocation space. The site operated as an IXEurope facility until Equinix acquired the company in 2007. Equinix’s Q4 2022 results also noted the closure of its ML4 facility in Milan, Italy.
Update: Gary Aitkenhead, Senior Vice President, EMEA IBX Operations at Equinix, said of the facility closures to DCD:
"Equinix regularly reviews its IBX data center footprint to ensure it aligns with customer needs to interconnect with vibrant digital ecosystems and the company’s long-term strategic business goals, including striving for sustainability excellence.
Equinix believes highly scalable and resilient campus environments are the best way to curate these digital ecosystems, and when appropriate, closes legacy sites, working with customers to migrate their operations to optimal locations.
Equinix has an ongoing commitment to the French and Italian markets, further supporting the growth of the local digital economies and digital transformation strategies."
Original story continues:
At the same time, Equinix has signed a pre-lease with Icade, which is developing a new data center for the company in Paris set to go live in 2025.
“Following the pre-let lease signed with Equinix, the project to convert office space into a data center in the Portes de Paris business park was included in the pipeline of projects launched,” Icade said in a post this week announcing full-year 2022 results.
According to an Icade investor day presentation, the project is a shell and core redevelopment of a car park in the Portes De Paris Business Park in Seine-Saint-Denis. The shell and core is to be built by Icade, with fit-out works done by Equinix
Demolition work is set to start in 2023; Icade said the project totals around 80,620 sq ft (7,490 sqm) across four stories and will be completed in Q3 2025 at a cost of €36 million ($38.4m). Equinix has signed a nine-year pre-lease agreement with the company for an annual price of €2.2 million ($2.35m).
The project will reportedly include waste heat recovery and link to a district heating scheme.
Equinix currently operates nine data centers in Paris; PA2-7 and PA10 as retail IBX colocation facilities, and PA8x and PA9x as hyperscale facilities under its xScale brand.
All facilities except PA5, PA6, and PA7 are owned by the company. PA10 was announced in January 2022 and launched in Q3 of the same year. Phase two of the project is set to add a further 700 cabinets in 2024.
DCD has reached out to Icade and Equinix for more information.
