Phase 1 of DuPont's AC5 facility in Ashburn, Va., is 84 percent leased and Phase 2 (now under development) is 50 percent pre-leased

DuPont Fabros, a large US data-center-oriented real estate investment trust, said it had resumed development of its new facility in New Jersey, a project the company had put on hold until adequate financing could be secured. The company's CEO Hossein Fateh emphasized in November that development would not take place at any of its properties until new funds were obtained.

And obtain new funds it did. "Over the course of the year (2009), we substantially strengthened our balance sheet," Fateh said in a statement released Wednesday. "This included $700 million of new financing obtained in the fourth quarter which included, for the first time, capital from the unsecured bond market."

During the fourth quarter of last year, DuPont sold $550 million in securities and took out a $150 million loan. While the larger portion of new capital ($504 million) went to paying off existing debt, the company said this week the remaining funds were sufficient to restart construction of NJ1 in Piscataway, N.J., and to begin and finish phase 2 of ACC5, a data center in Ashburn, Va.

In the final quarter of 2009, DuPont increased its revenues by 10.8 percent year-over-year to about $52.7 million. DuPont earnings dropped substantially, however, with the company reporting a net loss of about $11.4 million during the quarter, compared with net income of about $6.6 million during the same period in 2008.

During the final quarter of 2009, DuPont executed four new leases for a total of 6.32 MW of power on 42,300 square feet of raised floor. Average term length of the four deals was 10.9 years, with total contract value of $165 million.

Three of the leases were signed for space in the first phase of ACC5 (4.37 MW) and the fourth one was for space at the VA3 facility in Reston, Va. A previous tenant vacated this space at the end of last year. Also at VA3, DuPont renewed a pre-existing lease for 5.69 MW on 66,661 square feet of raised floor that was scheduled to expire in 2010.