TechCore, LP, a $1 billion discretionary core real estate fund managed by San Francisco-based GI Partners on behalf of California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), has completed the purchase of a Chicago data center for $17.8 million, according to public records. The 107,000 square-foot building was sold by Pi Data Holdings LLC, a Pennsylvania-based venture backed by private investors, which paid $10 million for the property in 2011. TechCore, formed in 2012 to acquire technology-advantaged properties, receives the property after Pi Data spent nearly $6 million renovating the two-story building. Full terms of the deal or representation in the transaction were not disclosed.
"We are pleased to own 601 W. Polk and form a long-term relationship with TierPoint," GI Principal Mike Armstrong said in a statement. "The facility's robust infrastructure, connectivity and location make it an attractive addition to the TechCore portfolio. We actively track the Chicago market, a top-tier data center market with attractive fundamentals, and are excited to complete our first acquisition in the (metro area)."
601 West Polk Street was originally developed in 1918 as a warehouse for Marshall Field's, built with 18 foot ceilings and reinforced floors to accommodate large merchandise and the horse-drawn distribution networks of the early 20th century. In more recent decades it fell vacant and served as a movie location, until Sprint moved in in the 1990s and it became a "carrier hotel". In 2011, it was purchased from bankruptcy by AlteredScale. The property is currently fully leased to TierPoint, a St. Louis-based operator of data centers and cloud computing provider that bought out AlteredScale.
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