Provider of wholesale data center space Fortune is branching out. The Silicon Valley company has started a development business through which it will build data centers for corporate clients.

The move is unusual for a commercial data center provider, but not entirely unheard of. San Francisco-based Digital Realty Trust, one of the world's most successful data center companies that directly competes with Fortune in the Valley, does both lease out wholesale space and build data centers for others.

To run Fortune Development Group, its new development business, Fortune hired Matt Mochary, a former colleague of the data center provider's CEO John Sheputis. "Matt and I have known each for over 12 years since we built Totality, now a significant part of Verizon Business'managed services group," Sheputis said.

Totality provided application and infrastructure-management services to thousands of e-businesses through the "Dot-com" era. Telco MCI bought it in 2005 and was shortly itself acquired by Verizon.

"Matt will run Fortune's new developments," Sheputis continued. "Given Matt's enviable track record of building new businesses and the length and depth [of] our relationship, I have great confidence that this will accelerate Fortune's growth."

Fortune built and now operates a large data center in San Jose, California, which came online in 2009. The facility's power capacity was recently expanded from 7.8MW to 9.2MW.