Hello turtleboy,
This company prefers to keep things close to the vest about their
location and business history. Its Web site seems to have been last
updated in 2001.
==================
Company Overview
==================
Although their Web site doesn’t have this information, you can contact
them at:
U.S. Dataport, Inc.
50 W. San Fernando St., Suite 330
San Jose, CA. 95113
408-795-1291
I used http://www.whitepages.com/ to find them.
When you do a Google search on their name you are able to get a lot of
articles about their projects and some of the information you’re
looking for can be gleaned from these.
They were founded in 1999 as shown in the blurbs they provide when
they sponsor industry conferences.
http://www.imn.org/2001/a281/spon.dhtml
Carrier Hotels & Internet Data Centers
Platinum sponsor for 2001 conference.
This site is also helpful to find out information about the industry.
Follow the links to the sponsoring organization.
http://www.carrierhotels.com/
This site provides lots of information for “specialists in advanced
telecom facilities. … These properties may go by many names: carrier
hotel, telecom hotel, cyber hotel, telecenter, telehouses, colocation
facilities or data centers.” The information links to Facilities,
Industry News and Resources were helpful in exploring your question
about stability in this industry.
Since they are a privately held company and seem intent on keeping a
low profile, it’s difficult to get precise information about who owns
them and how big they are. The business press articles about their
projects provide insights into their current status.
================
Company Projects
================
On their Web site they list three projects: Silicon Valley, Virginia
Gateway and New York Metro. The Silicon Valley project is delayed but
moving forward and the Virginia Gateway project has been completely
revamped. There is nothing available about the New York project but a
new project in Kerala, India was added this year.
http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2002/02/04/story1.html
U.S. DataPort revamps data center project
This article from February 2002 reviews the major changes U.S.
DataPort is making in its plans for Prince William County and reveals
that the company has “18 months' worth of funding from Calpine
(http://www.calpine.com/ ), the California electricity provider that
is financing U.S. DataPort and its power generation plant.” To be able
to find out the value of 18 months worth of funding it is helpful to
read a selection of articles about the funding and progress of the
company.
http://www.energy.ca.gov/sitingcases/losesteros/index.html
Los Esteros Critical Energy Facility
http://sanjose.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2000/06/26/story1.html
$800 million data center touted as largest in U.S.
This June, 2000 article discusses the company’s San Jose project and
gives background information on the founders, Grant Sedgwick and
Kimball Small, including the fact that “Together they have almost 50
years of local development experience, though the data center projects
will mark U.S. Dataport's development debut.” The article addresses
the company’s financing by stating, “Mr. Sedgwick says he's already
gotten some "seed money" from several private investors, and plans to
turn to investment bankers on Wall Street to help him with the
financing he'll need.”
http://www.southasia.insnews.org/kerala/2002/august/dataport.us.trade.htm
Kerala Govt signs MoU with US firm for IT facility
August 5, 2002 The Kerala Government has signed a memorandum of
understanding with US Dataport to set up a world-class carrier neutral
facility and other infrastructure at Kinfra IT Park in Kochi.
All of the US Dataport projects are enormous and their combined value
is over $2 billion. They involve developing and building very large
data center/server farm facilities that are powered by an
“off-the-grid” power generating facility which is called a critical
reliable energy center (CREC). The power facilities will be owned by
power companies (Calpine for the San Jose project) and space in the
data centers will be leased to Web service providers.
The climate and outlook for US Dataport’s projects has changed
drastically since the company’s founding. The dot-com crash has
completely changed the picture about the need for data centers. Many
have gone out of business or have been acquired. Many stand empty. The
California energy crisis raised a lot of questions about the power
demands of such facilities. I’m including a selection of articles that
will highlight the issues involved in this industry followed by some
articles that give you some information about the founders and key
players in the company.
================================
Internet Data Center Industry
================================
http://www.thestandard.com/article/0,1902,23649,00.html
April 23, 2001
Powering Up: How do you start an energy-hogging business in
electricity-starved California? Bring your own power plant.
http://techway.washtech.com/news/2_11/techcap/10169-1.html
June 11, 2001
Can you spare a quarter ... of a billion?
US DataPort plans to build Internet campuses in Northern Virginia and
California. All that's needed is $2.8 billion.
http://www.itworld.com/Tech/2327/CWSTO58328/
March 5, 2001
New approach to data centers could stem power crisis -- Proposed
electric cogeneration facility would be first of this scale
http://news.com.com/2100-1017-257567.html?legacy=cnet
May 14, 2001
Server farms on hot seat amid power woes
Expectations of a long, hot--and dark--summer in power-strapped
California are putting some of the technology industry's biggest
energy consumers on the hot seat.
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,42654,00.html
March 28, 2001
US Dataport wants to be the Johnny Appleseed of computers.
=================================
Company Founders and Key Players
=================================
It is important to take a look at the founders and management team for
this company to be able to evaluate who they are and their prospects
for stability. All of the founders have been in the real estate
development business for many years and have worked together in
various prior companies and projects. I’ve expanded the information
from the company Web site to provide additional insights into the
capabilities and relationships of the management team.
Kimball Small, Founder and the Chairman. Mr. Small is also the founder
of Kimball Small Properties (KSP)
http://www.mortgagemag.com/guide/c094/c094247.htm
According to their directory listing they’re located at 50 W. San
Fernando Street #320, San Jose, CA 95113, the same address as US
Dataport. Their Web site is still listed but it’s not available and
research could not find an active replacement.
http://www.baynet.com/kimball/
Mr. Small was also a founding director of AboveNet.
(http://www.abovenet.com/company/index.html ) AboveNet had the same
address as US Dataport.
Grant Sedgwick, Founder and President and CEO. Mr. Sedgwick has been
associated with Kimball Small Properties for many years in various
capacities. He was president of Kimball Small from 1986 to 1990
according to a San Jose Business Journal article dated Dec 6, 1993.
Sherman Tuan, Founder and Board Member. Mr. Tuan, co-founded AboveNet
in 1996 and served as CEO. AboveNet was acquired by Metromedia Fiber
Network, Inc. (http://www.mmfn.com/ ) which went into Chapter 11
bankruptcy and reorganization in May 2002.
============
Conclusions
============
It seems that the data center industry is going through major turmoil
and the real estate development industry is also heavily impacted by
the downturn in economic conditions. US Dataport may have trouble
getting the financing to make their projects a reality. On the other
hand, the management team seems to be a group that has worked together
for many years on many very large projects. They will probably be
successful in transforming the company so it can stay viable.
I hope this satisfies your need for information about this company.
czh |
