Expedient Data Centers has filed a $2.8 million construction permit for its recently leased data center facility in Memphis, Tennessee, according to a report by the Memphis Business Journal. Interior renovations are the first leg in the colocation provider’s planned $6 million upgrade program for the facility that was originally built in 1991 and formerly served as the global data center for Hilton Hotels.

Pittsburgh-based Expedient currently operates 10 data centers in six US markets spanning the Northeast, Middle Atlantic and Midwest. The Memphis location is the company’s first in the southeast region. Expedient anticipates the 35,000 sq ft facility will be customer-ready by July 2015 and will employ up to 20 people during the first two years of operation – mostly technical engineers and support staff.

The facility upgrade program will provide 7,500 sq ft of raised computing floor space from the outset, with room for expansion. Other upgrades Expedient noted include dual commercial power feeds, 1,250-kVA generators, and 450 tons of cooling.

Hilton site sale
Last year Hilton sold the building and 4.3 acres of adjacent land to Five 9s Digital for $3.7 million. The Charlotte-based company specializes in developing and managing data center properties and has leased the building to Expedient.

“We believe the Memphis market will be a great complement to our existing network of interconnected data centers; it will bring an additional geographically diverse option for our current client base, as well as a local market solution for the attractive and growing Memphis commercial sector,” said Shawn McGorry, Expedient’s president and COO, in an October 2014 announcement on the new facility.

“After considerable due diligence, we are convinced that by providing Memphis customers with an excellent experience, we can establish Expedient as the leading colocation and cloud computing provider in the market”, the firm’s chief executive predicted.