Shipman Announces Launch of Data Center Practice Group as Investors Rapidly Repurpose Northeast Real Estate into Central and Edge Data Centers

Shipman & Goodwin LLP announced the formal launch of its Data Center Practice Group, which serves property owners, investors and entrepreneurs in the creation of edge computing and edge data centers. The global edge computing market, valued at $4.68 billion in 2020, is expected to increase to over $43 billion by 2027. The growth, driven by key industries including banking and financial services, healthcare, inventory management, smart cities, smart industry and agriculture, among others, presents a unique opportunity for investors and developers, particularly in the Northeast.

“This is a new and exciting opportunity to create a needed technology infrastructure to support our economic output and daily life in the Northeast,” said Lisa Zana, the head of Shipman’s Data Center Practice Group and a partner its Real Estate group. “There are cost-effective real estate options for investors and entrepreneurs who are interested in capitalizing on converting existing property into computing and data centers.”

An edge data center is a smaller data storage facility located close to the population that it serves, delivering cloud computing resources and cached content to end users. The center processes data and services as close to its users as possible, allowing organizations to minimize latency and enhance user experience. Edge computing and edge data centers present a unique and cost-effective solution to latency challenges brought on by increased demand for access to data housed in data centers located great distances away from the user’s location.

“Demand for faster and more reliable data will only increase over the coming years, especially as remote work, streaming and cloud computing are part of our daily lives. Edge data centers will decrease latency caused by users outpacing the network’s capacity and create a more secure, reliable network to support our growing needs,” added Zana.

 In a white paper published earlier this year, Shipman identified key real estate opportunities and tax laws that incentivize the development of edge computing facilities in the Northeast. Despite its economic prominence and financial output, the Northeast lacks the quantity and quality of centers found in the Southern and Western regions of the country where both real estate and energy costs are lower. Vacant commercial and industrial real estate, decommissioned power plants, brownfields and remediated super fund sites are particularly suitable as they offer a lower price of entry that may offset increased energy costs. The group plans to publish an updated white paper in 2022 expanding on the various legal implications impacting the development of centers.

“There are numerous attractive and cost-effective opportunities for centers in Boston and the Tri-State area, which are ripe for investors who are ready to act quickly to convert these existing vacant properties into productive centers for their local communities. “Our group is prepared to address all legal aspects of the conversion and development, including obtaining State tax and development incentives, green energy incentives and debt and equity financing, and handling zoning and land use, environmental remediation and insurance, leasing and other real estate matters,” said Zana.

For more information about the Shipman’s Data Centers group and access the latest insights and white papers, visit https://www.shipmangoodwin.com/services/industries/data-centers.html.