Expedient Upper Arlington: 1.6MW Columbus Data Hub
Status: Operational | Location: 5000 Arlington Centre Blvd, Building 1, Upper Arlington, Ohio 43220, USA
Project Overview
Situated in the northern technological sub-market of the Columbus metropolitan area, Expedient’s Upper Arlington data center (CMH1) provides mission-critical colocation, managed cloud infrastructure, and push-button disaster recovery services for Midwest enterprise operations. Spanning 21,591 square feet of overall building envelope featuring 9,300 square feet of 24-inch raised floor space, the facility is engineered to deliver uninterrupted compute availability and seamless multi-site workload failovers. The architectural blueprint implements a fully redundant 2N Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) system backed by auto-cutover Caterpillar diesel generators with 10,000 gallons of fuel storage, securing continuous operation under grid instability. Built to meet strict enterprise compliance standards, the data center undergoes routine independent third-party audits to support SOC 1, SOC 2, HIPAA, PCI DSS, and HITRUST CSF certifications. The physical perimeter incorporates multi-stage security protocols, including biometric hand-geometry scanners, card-key access traps, and 24/7/365 physical guarding monitored by an on-site Operations Support Center (OSC). Environmental stability is maintained via a 420-ton precision cooling plant configured with N+2 redundancy, paired with FE-25 gaseous fire suppression and dry-pipe pre-action sprinkler systems. Network transport is delivered through a carrier-neutral infrastructure featuring seven on-net telecommunication carriers with physically separated subterranean fiber entries. By linking directly into Expedient's private multi-gigabit national backbone network, the facility offers low-latency interconnectivity to AWS US-East and adjacent regional cloud nodes, making it a key infrastructure pillar for Ohio healthcare systems, financial institutions, and enterprise IT deployments.
Quick Facts
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Project Name | Expedient Upper Arlington: 1.6MW Columbus Data Hub |
| Location | 5000 Arlington Centre Blvd, Building 1, Upper Arlington, Ohio 43220, USA |
| Status | Operational |
| Commissioning | H2 2011 |
| Total IT Load | 1.6 MW |
| Total Capacity | 3.5 MW (Total Standby Generator Capacity across 21,591 sq. ft. facility) |
| Tier Level | Tier III Compliant Standards |
| Project Type | Retail Colocation, Managed Cloud Services & Disaster Recovery Hub |
City Profile
| Header | Details |
|---|
| City Name | Upper Arlington |
| Population | 35,893 (2025 estimate) |
| Urban Agglomeration | Approximately 2.24 million (Columbus metropolitan area, 2025) |
| City GDP | Approximately US$182.1 billion (Columbus metropolitan area, 2023; city-level GDP is not separately reported) |
| Per Capita Income | US$84,831 (2020–2024, in 2024 dollars) |
| City Tier | Tier 1 Suburban City / Affluent Metropolitan Suburb |
| Key Strengths | High household incomes, strong education ecosystem, proximity to Columbus, access to skilled talent, excellent connectivity, stable residential market, strong retail and healthcare sectors |
Companies Involved
| Header | Details |
|---|
| Developer / Operator | Expedient |
| Strategic Infrastructure Partner | American Electric Power (AEP Ohio), City of Upper Arlington |
| Construction Contractor | Regional Mission-Critical General Contracting Partners |
| MEP Engineering | Expedient Internal Facilities & Mechanical Engineering Teams |
| Network Connectivity | 7 On-Net Carriers (including AT&T, Lumen/Level 3, Zayo, Spectrum Enterprise, Cogent, and Crown Castle). |
| Power Infrastructure | Dual diverse utility power feeds from AEP Ohio connected directly to interior medium-voltage transformation gear. |
Technical Specifications
| Header | Details |
|---|
| Power Capacity | 1.6 MW critical IT power capacity (supported by 3.5 MW total generator plant) |
| UPS Redundancy | True 2N configuration utilizing dual 750 kVA Liebert static UPS modules |
| Cooling System | 420 tons of total cooling capacity utilizing computer room air conditioning (CRAC) units configured in an N+2 design capacity. |
| Connectivity | Carrier-neutral design featuring dual subterranean concrete fiber vaults, redundant carrier meet-me-rooms, and multi-gigabit private network backbone access. |
| PUE Target | 1.45 |
| Energy Mix | Pulled directly from the AEP Ohio regional power grid, supplemented by Expedient corporate energy efficiency initiatives. |
Milestones
| Header | Details |
|---|
| Announcement | Q1 2011 |
| Construction Start | Q2 2011 |
| Phase 1 Go-Live | H2 2011 |
| Full Buildout | H1 2015 (Ongoing infrastructure and cloud POD density upgrades) |
Investment Details
| Header | Details |
|---|
| Total Investment | $14,000,000 (Estimated regional asset acquisition, structural buildout, and continuous equipment upgrades) |
| Funding | Corporate capital expenditure allocation backed by AMP Capital (Expedient parent equity) |