An occupied data center and broadcasting facility is up for sale to a new landlord.
Via a LoopNet listing, real estate brokerage Thomas Company is offering 4901 Ashe Road in Bakersfield, California as for sale with a triple net (NNN) lease tenant in place.
The sale price is listed as $7.813 million.
The facility is being offered with a “brand new” 20-year absolute triple net lease with no landlord responsibilities and 3 percent escalations annually, according to Thomas Company. The annual net operating income of the facility is currently $480,506.
Sat on just under 15 acres in Kern County, the 13,488 square foot (1,253 sqm) single-story property is described as an Uplink facility for satellite TV provider DirecTV. The site, built around 2013, has five satellite antennae.
“This uplink facility is a mission-critical site for DirecTV's day-to-day operations. This site is part of the technical core of DirecTV, housing critical infrastructure that make broadcast signals viable. This site is used to send broadcast signals to DirecTV satellites in orbit,” the sales brochure says.
DirecTV’s latest lease at the site runs from March 31 2023 to March 31, 2043, with four 5-year renewal options.
DirecTV was launched by Hughes Electronics and United States Satellite Broadcasting (USSB) in 1994, offering satellite TV services. DirecTV manages a fleet of 12 satellites in geostationary orbit
Hughes Electronics was nearly acquired by EchoStar/Dish around 2002 but the deal was scrapped the same year. News Corporation acquired a minority stake in the firm a year later, which was taken over by Liberty Media in 2006.
Liberty then split off a number of units into a new company named DirecTV. The new DirecTV was acquired by AT&T in 2014 in a $48.5 billion deal. AT&T then sold a 30 percent stake to TPG in 2021. The company is also listed on the Nasdaq.
According to a DesignTech Inc. case study, DirecTV has at least three Uplink facilities across the US. The engineering firm notes each facility is generally comprised of two separate buildings (primary and backup) that work in conjunction with satellite antennas at the sites.
The buildings – ranging in size from 7,500 sq ft to 22,000 sq ft – comprise raised floor data center-type rooms, office suites, and mechanical/electrical infrastructure rooms. A typical primary building is supported by dual 3,000 amp utility electric services, 2,000 KW stand-by generators, and 500 KVA UPS units.
Another case study from HyderInc notes the company has one facility in Castle Rock, Colorado.
