Digital Realty is adding another building in Ashburn

Digital Realty Trust Inc., which operates 2.4 million square feet of data center facilities in the Northern Virginia market, has started construction on a new building at its Ashburn campus.

What will be known as Building K will offer about 280,000 square feet capable of supporting 19.2 megawatts of IT load. The building will provide data center solutions for a broad range of companies.

Matt Gallagher, Herb Mansinne and Bob VeShancey of Jones Lang LaSalle will lease the building on behalf of Digital Realty.

“It is estimated that nearly three quarters of the world’s internet traffic flows through Loudoun County data centers every day,” Dana Adams, vice president of portfolio management for Digital Realty, said in a statement.  “The demand from our customers continues to increase, making this an attractive area for us to invest in.”

The company said earlier this year that it planned to invest about $150 million in new facilities by 2015 that would create 50 new jobs, allowing Digital to qualify for tax exemptions under some new Virginia incentives for data center development.

The company’s campus in Loudoun already is home to more than 5 million square feet of data center space.

Customer amenities at Building K will include office space, storage space, meeting rooms and break rooms, within a highly secure facility. The first phase of the building is scheduled for completion in late 2014.

Digital Realty's customers include domestic and international companies across multiple industries. The company owns about 130 properties in 33 markets in North America comprised of nearly 24 million square feet, including 2.8 million square feet of space held for development.

Northern Virginia is the company’s second largest market in North America.