Location is often key for big development projects. In the case of the Stadium Square project on the western end of Federal Hill, proximity to a data center presented an opportunity to bring in fast internet.

The three-block project is set to use dark fiber owned by the city to connect to a TierPoint data center located a couple of blocks away at 1401 Russell St.

Caves Valley Partners struck a deal to use the conduit (the developer will pay the city for access). The developers say it will be the “highest speed, highest capacity broadband service in Baltimore.”

The culprit? Location luck and willing partners.

“We were fortunate, in that there was excess dark fiber in existing city-owned conduit and there was a redundant loop from a manhole in front of our office projects back to TierPoint,” said Caves Valley Partners’ Arsh Mirmiran. “We were also lucky that our project happens to be right around the corner from the TierPoint facility, or this may have not been a possible solution.”

In addition to fiber internet, connecting to the data center opens up the option to use a host of different providers.

The $275 million redevelopment project is slated to have a mix of residential, retail and office space, with a six-story, 72,000-square-foot building at 145 W. Ostend St. that’s set to come online next year specifically targeting tech and cybersecurity companies as tenants. The development will have a total of 300,000 square feet of office space. It’ll add another home for tech companies in an area that is already home to Betamore, as well as offices of Straighterline, Terbium Labs and Gemstone Biotherapeutics.

“From day one, the office component of this project was geared toward creative-class companies, including various technology companies, marketing firms, cybersecurity companies and design firms,” Mirmiran said. “All of those types of users tend to move a lot of data and need access to state-of-the-art broadband services.”

Mirimiran said Caves Valley Partners worked with Mark Wagner of Bay-Tek Consulting, as well as the Mayor’s Office of Information Technology and Mayor’s Office of Economic Development on the project.


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