Data Centers
Dedicated and sophisticated legal support for your data center project
Capabilities at a glance
- A focus on your business goals and getting deals done. We take care of all the technical legal small print, but our approach is always tailored to your strategic objectives.
- Strong relationships with the most prominent national players in the data center world, as well as with regulated and alternative energy suppliers.
- Broad experience representing a range of data center clients, including developers, owners, operators and tenants, which helps us approach each case in a sophisticated way.
- The in-depth real estate, energy and infrastructure industry knowledge to provide counseling and legal services to clients nationwide.
Nationally recognized data center lawyers
The Quarles Data Centers team includes nationally recognized real estate, energy and infrastructure law attorneys with deep experience in all aspects of sophisticated data center projects. Having represented developers, owners, operators and tenants, our lawyers understand the challenges and opportunities involved in designing, constructing, operating and maintaining data centers. We know the round-the-clock operations of data centers require complex systems with an extremely high level of security and redundancy, including critical operational and backup power, cooling, bandwidth and security. Our lawyers understand these operational details and requirements, as well as the relevant legal issues and concerns that require experienced, thoughtful counsel to maximize the success of your data center project. We know how to get deals done, while providing effective legal advice to protect our clients’ interests.
A dynamic legal team with deep real estate and energy industry knowledge
The Quarles Data Centers team has the extensive real estate and energy law experience to provide counseling and legal services to clients nationwide. With nearly 50 attorneys in our national Real Estate and Energy & Infrastructure Law Practice Groups, working from our offices in Illinois, Arizona, Florida and Wisconsin, we match attorneys’ skills and experience with our clients’ individual needs and goals. The collaborative environment and varied experiences of our lawyers provides the level of excellent service, efficiency and responsiveness upon which our reputation is built. We have relationships with many of the most prominent national players in the data center world, as well as with regulated and alternative energy suppliers, lenders, consultants, construction companies and other parties that play key roles in data center project development and implementation.
Experience
- Preliminary identification of potential data center locations and related planning.
- Initial design and construction of electric facilities (for primary and backup power), including transmission and delivery system interconnection and upgrades.
- Evaluation and acquisition of real estate, including greenfield sites and existing structures for redevelopment as data centers.
- Land use and zoning.
- Counseling regarding power supply procurement arrangements, analysis of utility tariffs and negotiation of contracts.
- Negotiation of architect design agreements, construction contracts and other related documentation.
- Construction, term, mezzanine and revolving credit-line financing.
- Preparation and negotiation (for owners and users) of data center lease and colocation agreements for both purpose-built data center properties and those within office buildings.
- Preparation and negotiation of agreements relating to data center operations such as electrical power agreements, fiber connectivity agreements and licenses, master services agreements, service level agreements, IRU agreements and managed service agreements.
- Coordination with local utilities to ensure redundant power supplies and maximized value is realized from energy efficiency and demand-response programs.
Successes
- Represented an anchor tenant in connection with a hyperscale lease at one of the world’s largest data center facilities, based in Chicago.
- Represented a cross-border data center and fiber operator at multiple sites on the U.S.-Mexico border.
