Markley Boston - One Summer Street
Most operators of specialized, technology centric real estate assets started with a building and did their best to attract mission critical users to the real estate they owned. Jeffrey D. Markley’s heritage as a tenant representative to the leading telecommunications firms allowed him to approach facilities development from an inverse perspective. His portfolio started with a detailed understanding of what type of space would yield the best operations for his clients. As they expanded to new cities in the U.S. and Europe, he found and developed the sites that best suited their needs. The result: master planned, multi-tenant facilities designed to meet the target clientele’s every need.
Markley’s unique understanding of the client’s needs enabled his firm to always be the "best in class" provider in the given market. If Markley could not develop the preeminent facility in a city, he chose not to enter the market instead of relegating the firm to a secondary role. This is evidenced in how Markley passed on the two largest markets, New York and his home town of Los Angeles, because they already had entrenched, tier-one facilities for which anything else could only be considered a "runner-up". Simply stated, Markley’s approach has always been to give the customer what they want and to be the best at delivering it.
In the years between 1992 and the present, Markley completed more than 500 telecom/data center transactions, amassed a 2.2 million square foot portfolio of buildings located in Boston, Chicago, Miami, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Toronto, Paris, Marseille, Geneva, Milan, and Frankfurt. In 1998, Markley acquired the One Summer Street, Boston Property. Markley specifically selected the Building for its unmatchable, strategic location in the heart of Boston’s Downtown Crossing area, atop a major confluence of subway lines, which serve as the intersection of all major fiber loops in the Boston area. In addition, the Building was ideally constructed for data center and telecommunications use. The masonry block construction, steel frame and poured concrete floors suited to satisfy a data and telecom center’s needs for strength, weather resistance, fire resistance, loading capacity and security. Ceiling heights range from 14 to 16 feet throughout the Building. Floor loading capacity ranges from 125-200 pounds per square foot, and the Building features extremely large, uninterrupted floor plates that are ideal for a variety of telecom uses.
Since acquiring the Boston building, Markley has invested more that $46 million, developing it into a preeminent, master-planned, data center and telecom facility. Home to more than 35 domestic and international carriers such as WilTel Communications, Qwest, Comcast and Level (3), One Summer Street is considered the most significant data center/telecommunications facility in the entire New England region. As part of the development of the One Summer Street, Markley invested heavily in Collocation, interconnection and managed services. The Neutral Collocation Facility features N+1 infrastructure redundancy throughout the facility, multiple entry fiber paths, multiple power grids, power supply of 100 watts per square foot for the entire building (with delivery of up to 200 watts per square foot available), 24 hour manned security in addition to cameras, digital recording, biometric access control and up to 24 day fuel supply on site. Perhaps the most significant advantage of One Summer Street is that the facility is truly carrier neutral. By offering the tenant the ability to choose and freely connect to any fiber network provider that has space in the Building, the tenants benefits through competition for its transit business.
One Summer Street Facilities
Strategic Location
One Summer Street is centrally located in the Downtown Crossing area of Boston. Markley strategically selected the Property for conversion because of its unmatchable location atop a major confluence of subway lines, which serve as the intersection of all major fiber loops in the Boston area. No competing property has such an advantage in terms of fiber connectivity. The proximity to all major fiber routes provides a centralized location where all fiber backbones and other providers can meet, connect and exchange data and voice traffic over their networks, unlike anywhere else in the New England area.
Electric
Markley created two new diverse entrances for electricity, each supporting a 13,800 volt service. Additionally, two new vaults were constructed at the B-2 level, where the power is stepped down to 480 volts through four transformers. The power is then distributed through 12 bus ducts in two diverse shafts. Each shaft has a closet on each floor where tenant equipment steps the power down further for distribution to the each tenant’s space.
Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning
A new 50-ton air cooled, common area HVAC system with heat exchangers was installed to serve the lobby and common areas. All tenants have their own independent systems in accordance with their own requirements. The Collocation Facilities are equipped with twenty-one 20 ton Liebert upflow units and two duplex glycol VFD/Pumping systems backed up by generator .
Loading/Elevators
The Building has underground loading docks on the B-2 level which lead directly to two freight elevators with capacities of 8,000 lbs. and 3,000 lbs. Two passenger elevators serve the tenants and guests. All elevators are controlled by a card key system that records cardholders’ movements within the Building and limits their access to authorized floors only.
Rooftop Dunnage Platform
Rooftop dunnage covering approximately 80,000 square feet was designed and constructed to house the tenants’ air conditioning condenser units and generators in sound attenuated housing. The platform is master planned to provide the ancillary space required to serve each portion of the interior floor space of the Building. It allows four feet of clearance underneath for access and airflow. All fuel piping, power feeds and glycol runs are master planned to each area of the platform to ensure adequate paths for each tenant and to prevent any piece of equipment from becoming inaccessible due to another tenant’s installation (a major problem in many other technical facilities).
Security/Life Safety
An extensive, multi-point security system electronically secures the common areas via 30 real time video cameras, hundreds of door alarms, motion sensors, and card access points. There is also manned security at the Building entry security desk, delivery entrance and a roving guard 24 hours per day, seven days per week. A base Building "Class A" fire system monitors all common areas and tenant spaces. Most tenants have installed individual pre-action dry fire suppression systems that monitor their water and smoke/oxygen detectors.
Structural Significance
The masonry block construction, steel frame and poured concrete floors are ideally suited to satisfy a data and telecom center’s needs for strength, weather resistance, fire resistance, loading capacity and security. Ceiling heights range from 14 to 16 feet throughout the Building and can accommodate tenants that may need higher ceiling clearance. The building is master planned with multiple dedicated and redundant shafts for fiber and cable conduit, electrical, plumbing and other tenant services. Floor loading capacity ranges from 125-200 pounds per square foot, and the Building features extremely large, uninterrupted floor plates that are ideal for a variety of telecom uses.
Building Characteristics
- N + 1 Infrastructure Redundancy Throughout Facility.
- Multiple Entry Fiber Paths.
- Power Supply Of Up To 100 Watts/Sq. Ft. in place.
- Multiple Power Grids for Redundant Power.
- Floor-Load Capacity of 150 Lbs.
- Line of Site for Rooftop Antennas.
- 24 Hour Manned Security, Cameras & Digital Monitoring.
- Up to Twenty-Four (24) Day Fuel Supply On Site.
- Unsurpassed Diversity Through Our (40) Communication Providers.
- Built-Out Data Center / Disaster Recovery Space Available.
- Lowest Network and Data Transport Costs in the Region.
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