Sabey Corp., a US data center construction and management company, has secured an agreement with National Real Estate Advisors, whereby the real estate investment and advisory firm will invest $100 million into a new venture called Sabey DataCenter Properties.

The new company will use the funds to manage Sabey's existing data center portfolio, as well as for expansion beyond its current market in the US Pacific Northwest region.

"Sabey has about 1.7 million square feet of data (center) capacity in the Northwest and has primarily been a Northwest player," Sabey spokesman Jim Kneeland said. He declined to disclose which markets Sabey was interested in entering.

NREA is owned by National Electrical Benefits Funds, an organization that was created by two US electricians' labor unions: the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the National Electrical Contractors Association.

The funds were established to provide retirement funds for workers in the electrical construction industry. "These are the people who build these data centers, basically," Kneeland said. "This seems to be a very targeted investment for them."