Netrality Secures $45M Loan from Oakwood Bank to Support its Sustainability Goals


SHAWNEE, Kan., Jan. 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Netrality Data Centers, the largest, privately held owner and operator of core interconnection facilities in the U.S. announced its securement of a $45M construction loan with Oakwood Bank as Administrative Agent, Sole Lead Arranger, and Sole Bookrunner along with Blue Sky Bank and Bank Midwest. The construction loan will continue to support sustainability enhancements focused on energy efficiency and water conservation at Netrality’s facility located at 7801 Nieman Road in Shawnee, Kansas.

On December 7th, 2021, Netrality acquired 7801 Nieman Road and shared plans to develop and renovate the Energy Star facility that spans 172,000 square feet, including 40,000 square feet of office space. The first phase of development will include a new data hall with 2MW of critical capacity and is targeted to open on May 1st, 2023. An additional data hall featuring 2MW of critical capacity will be delivered in the second phase of development. When fully developed, the facility could accommodate as much as 10MW of critical capacity.

The $45M construction loan closed on December 21st, 2022. On November 8th, 2021, the Shawnee City Council issued $56.2M in federally taxable private activity revenue bonds. The loan and bonds will allow Netrality to increase capacity and provide energy-efficient and sustainable edge and wholesale deployments to customers at 7801 Nieman Road.

“We are delighted to have the opportunity to create a construction loan with Oakwood Bank that supports Netrality’s commitment to creating sustainable environments, including state-of-the-art, energy-efficient electrical distribution and cooling technology,” said Gerald M. Marshall, Chief Executive Officer at Netrality Data Centers. “The loan structure incentivizes Netrality to maintain power utilization efficiency levels below certain agreed-upon benchmarks and implement waterless cooling for the data halls.”

“Oakwood is thrilled to agent and finance the redevelopment of 7801 Nieman Road into an institutional quality, best-in-class data center. This marks the first loan linked to sustainability in the Bank’s history, which was one of the key components in Netrality’s financing request. Oakwood could not have asked for a better owner-operator to work with, and we are excited to partner with Netrality’s talented team. We look forward to the evolution of this asset and its positive impact on Shawnee,” said Jacob Wall, Senior Vice President of Commercial Real Estate at Oakwood Bank.

The 10-mile distance between Netrality’s 1102 Grand and 7801 Nieman Road allows for one millisecond round trip latency for active-active replication between the two data centers, allowing 7801 Nieman Road customers access to 1102 Grand’s rich connectivity ecosystem, including direct on-ramps to Google Cloud and AWS Direct Connect. 

Cullen Aderhold, Managing Director and Luke Rogers, Senior Analyst of JLL Capital Markets represented Netrality Data Centers in the transaction. Stuart Kurtz and Stacy Bedwick of Kurtz & Revness, P.C. provided legal counsel to Netrality Data Centers.

Emmett W. Berryman, Clayton E. Greenberg, and Nathan Straley of Liechty, McGinnis, Berryman, & Bowen, LLP provided legal representation to the lending syndicate.

About Netrality Data Centers
Netrality Data Centers owns and operates strategic interconnected data centers and Meet Me Rooms, providing a mix of colocation, and powered shell and wholesale data center solutions driven by fiber-dense, network-rich interconnection environments. Today, Netrality’s eighteen properties span 3.3 million square feet and over 100 megawatts of capacity across North America.

Well-capitalized with a long-term investment from Macquarie Asset Management, Netrality is the largest privately held owner-operator of core interconnection facilities in the United States. Netrality acquires strategically located core network interconnection data centers that provide best in market network resiliency, ensuring always-on connectivity for latency-sensitive and mission-critical businesses. For more information: www.netrality.comLinkedInTwitter.

Media Contact:
May Lee
Senior Director, Marketing
mlee@netrality.com