DuPont Fabros Technology (DFT), a US provider of wholesale data center capacity, sold out its first Chicago data center during the second quarter and commenced construction of its next facility in Northern Virginia.

The company reported a strong quarter in terms of revenue and earnings per share, having increased both compared to the same quarter last year.

DFT reported US$92m in revenue for the second quarter – up 11% year over year. Its earnings per share were $0.18 – a 64% increase from $0.11 per share reported for the second quarter of 2012.

Hossein Fateh, DFT president and CEO, said the company continued focusing on leasing out its remaining data center capacity and developing new capacity in existing locations. “We are optimistic in our ability to lease our available space based on expected data center demand,” he said.

The company saw its Chicago data center become fully leased during the quarter after a tenant signed a 1.73MW lease for about 10,000 sq ft of raised floor in the facility.

It also started construction of Phase I of the next data center on its massive Ashburn, Virginia, campus. ACC7 will be DFT's sixth data center in Ashburn and eighth in the state, expected to provide 41.6MW of critical power capacity after all four phases are built out.

First phase will bring about 12MW of critical load online, but DFT can build out in units as small as 5.9MW for “just-in-time” delivery and to reduce the risk of speculative development.

The company expects to spend between $7m and $7.9m per 1MW of capacity on construction of the entire ACC7 data center.

Another highlight of the quarter for DFT was an increase of credit facility from $255m to $400m.

DFT's major rival in the market CoreSite reported 14% revenue growth for the quarter, reaching $57.7m. The company is building out capacity in four major markets around the US, including Northern Virginia.