A suburban Denver data center operator has acquired the 225,000-square-foot Compass Bank building in Downtown Albuquerque, which also houses one of the main telecommunications hubs in New Mexico, according to a news release the company issued on Thursday.
It is unclear when H5 Data Centers, which now manages more than 3 million square feet of data center space in 20 markets, closed on the deal, or the terms of the deal.
Emails and phone calls to H5 Data Centers' director of marketing were not returned.
Known in the industry as a carrier hotel, the building houses one of New Mexico’s key interconnection points. It has also operated as a carrier-neutral facility, which means no one company or internet service provider dictates who can operate out of the space.
"505 Marquette has long served as one of Albuquerque’s most interconnected access points," H5 Data Centers founder and CEO Josh Simms said in a prepared statement. "We have previously operated several data centers at the building as a tenant, but we look forward to growing our operations and expanding the building’s infrastructure as the owner in support of our growing customer base and IT infrastructure community."
Home to on-site communications carriers, fiber providers, cloud service providers, content companies and enterprises, the building also has leases available for office, retail and storage spaces.
For Sacred Wind Communications, 505 Marquette is one of the company's main locations for internet traffic, CEO John Badal told Albuquerque Business First.
"In order to get to the outside world ‚ the internet — all the traffic that is not local calls has to get through one of these hubs," Badal said. "The internet doesn't exist without one."
Other companies with a presence at the data center include Archeo Futurus, Comcast Business, Lobo Internet, the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority and WIndstream.
According to Emporis, 505 Marquette is the third tallest building in Albuquerque at nearly 240 feet tall and 18 floors. Completed in 1966, the building was formerly known as the National Building. At 255,00 square feet, it ranked second on Albuquerque Business First's 2021 list of New Mexico office buildings. Kelly Schmidt of SVN Walt Arnold Commercial Brokerage Inc. is listed as the leasing agent.
