Driver FixRecommendedSound, Wi-Fi or graphics acting up? Check drivers firstFind missing or outdated drivers fast.Check DriversOctober DealsAmazon USOctober deal check: compare before you payAmazon US: current deals, useful picks and tech finds.Check DealsSlow PC?RecommendedPC slow today? Run a repair scan before it gets worseResolve common Windows issues and optimize system performance.Scan Now×
Skip to content
The Finance Base
The Money Desk · Blog
Re:

Cervalis Signs Lease for Build-to-Suit Data Center in Norwalk, Connecticut

Cervalis’ Norwalk expansion was a 2012 build-to-suit lease for a roughly 168,000-square-foot data center and disaster-recovery facility that opened in January 2014.
From TheFinanceBase Team5 min to read
Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.

In 2012, Cervalis agreed to lease a purpose-built data center and disaster-recovery facility at 10 Norden Place in Norwalk, Connecticut. The project was reported at 167,691 square feet—about 168,000 square feet—and was later announced as operational on January 30, 2014.

What Cervalis announced

Cervalis LLC, a managed-hosting and IT-infrastructure provider, signed a long-term lease for a new data center and business-continuity facility in Norwalk. The landlord and developer was FPG Norden DC LLC, a subsidiary of Fortis Property Group. Contemporary coverage described the transaction as the largest lease in Fairfield County that year and, according to the parties or reporting, the county’s largest build-to-suit project in roughly 12 years. Those were historical transaction claims, not current market rankings.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

The facility was planned for approximately 168,000 square feet at 10 Norden Place, within the Norden Park development. Commercial real-estate coverage reported the precise area as 167,691 square feet, while Cervalis later rounded it to 168,000 square feet when announcing the opening.

Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.

How the build-to-suit structure worked

A build-to-suit lease differs from renting an existing office or warehouse. Fortis was responsible for constructing the building shell, while Cervalis and its contractors would configure the interior for specialized data-center operations. Contemporary reporting said Cervalis’ Long Island contractor would manage the interior build-out.

#1 Best Overall
Tecmojo 6U Wall Mount Server Cabinet IT Network Rack Enclosure Lockable Door and Side Panels Black, Cooling Fan, Standard Glass Door, 450mm Depth, for 19” IT Equipment, A/V Devices
  • Save valuable floor space: 6U wall mount server cabinet Dimensions: 13.78" H x21.65" W x17.72" D.Maximum mounting depth is 14.2"
  • Keep critical network equipment secure: glass door and side panels are lockable to prevent unauthorized access. Front door can be installed on either side of the front of the cabinet to satisfy your door swing orientation preference
  • Easy equipment configuration: Fully adjustable mounting rails and numbered U positions, with square holes for easy equipment mounting with top and bottom punch-out panels for easy cable access
  • Durability: Made of high quality cold rolled steel holds up to 110lb (50kg) (Easy Assembly Required)
  • PCI & HIPPA and EIA/ECA-310-E compliant

That arrangement allowed the facility to be designed around requirements that ordinary commercial space would not automatically provide, including:

  • Server data halls and equipment areas
  • Large-scale electrical distribution and backup power
  • Cooling and mechanical infrastructure
  • Physical security and controlled access
  • Client workspace for business-continuity operations
  • Connectivity and support areas for managed services

For Cervalis, a long-term lease provided a purpose-built site without requiring the company to purchase the underlying real estate outright. The trade-off was a substantial lease commitment and the risk that demand, technology, or construction timing could change before the investment was fully used.

What the facility was intended to support

The first floor was expected to contain server data halls. The second floor was planned for offices and client-desk space supporting business continuity. Cervalis projected approximately 25 employees onsite, although that was a forecast rather than a confirmed final headcount.

Free tools Windows power users keep installed

One-click scans. No signup required.

Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.
Rank #2
AxcessAbles 12U Network Rack with Wheels - 500lb Capacity, 18" Depth | 19-Inch Open Frame AV Rack Case with 3” Caster Wheels | Screws, Spacer, Tool Included
  • Universal 19” Rack Mount Compatibility – Perfect for pro audio, video, IT, and network gear. Compatible with mixers, routers, patch panels, servers, power amps, and more.
  • Heavy-Duty Load Capacity – Built to support up to 550 lbs. Ideal for studio gear, DJ setups, server equipment, and AV components that demand serious stability.
  • Robust Steel Frame & Design – Made with 1.5mm thick steel and weighs 36 lbs for maximum durability, reduced vibration, and long-term reliability in any setting.
  • Mobile & Secure – Preinstalled with 3” industrial-grade caster wheels (lockable), making it easy to move and position your rack exactly where you need it.
  • All-In-One Setup Kit Included – Comes with 34 rack screws (5mm & 6mm), a 1U blank spacer, and an assembly tool—ready for fast installation out of the box.

Cervalis marketed services including managed hosting, disaster recovery, managed security, managed storage, networking and telecommunications, colocation, and enterprise cloud services. In practical terms, customers could outsource some or all of the infrastructure needed to run applications and maintain recovery capabilities instead of building and staffing a redundant facility themselves.

The customer proposition was particularly relevant to financial-services companies and other businesses with significant security, regulatory, and uptime requirements. However, the available reporting does not establish the facility’s megawatt capacity, raised-floor area, rack count, power density, carrier list, formal data-center tier, service-level agreement, recovery-time objective, or recovery-point objective.

Why Norwalk mattered

Norwalk offered proximity to New York City and the broader New York business market while giving Cervalis another location in its existing Connecticut and tri-state network. The company already had a Connecticut presence, so the Norwalk project was an expansion rather than its first Connecticut facility.

Rank #3
Sale
StarTech 22U 4-Post Server Cabinet, 33in/83cm Deep, 1764lb (RK2236BKF)
  • ADJUSTABLE DEPTH: 4- Post 22U 19" server rack enclosure with 4 vertical rails and adjustable mounting depth 5.7" to 33.0" (14,4cm to 83,8cm); IT rack is compatible with various servers / switches / data / video / AV and other IT networking equipment
  • EASY SHIPPING AND ASSEMBLY: Enclosed 22U data rack cabinet ships compact flat-packed to avoid damage and facilitate installation; Include wheels & levelling feet to offer more stability; Home server rack cabinet is only 46.6in (118,3cm) in height
  • DESIGN AND VENTILATION: Half height server rack cabinet has lockable and removable door and side panels with vented top allowing airflow; 4 Post 19" rack with 1764lb (800kg) weight capacity (stationary); Computer cabinet rack is EIA/ECA-310-E Compliant
  • HARDWARE INCLUDED: Rolling home network rack includes rack mounting and equipment mounting hardware, such as 20 M6 cage nuts / screws, PVC cup washers; Front/rear doors and side panels Keys, 2x allen keys; Rack assembly hardware; Casters and leveling feet
  • THE IT PRO'S CHOICE: Designed and built for IT Professionals, this 22U IT Server Cabinet is backed for life, including free lifetime 24/5 multi-lingual technical assistance

That regional position could help Cervalis serve Connecticut businesses and New York-area companies seeking hosted infrastructure or disaster-recovery capacity. But geographic redundancy is not automatically complete protection. A recovery site near a primary facility may still share regional risks, network dependencies, utility constraints, or weather exposure. The value of disaster recovery depends on the distance between sites, connectivity, replication design, recovery procedures, and regular testing—not merely on having a second building.

Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.

Scale, financing, and regional footprint

At the time of the lease announcement, Cervalis expected its facilities across New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut to total more than 470,000 square feet. That figure described aggregate operating-center space; it should not be interpreted as 470,000 square feet of server white space.

The project followed Cervalis’ opening of a reported 182,000-square-foot facility in Totowa, New Jersey, in 2010. Contemporary reporting also said the company had closed a senior credit facility with multiple lending institutions. Most of the proceeds were intended to fund construction of the Norwalk data center, with some used to refinance existing debt. The available sources do not establish a reliable financing amount.

Rank #4
NavePoint 12U Server Rack Enclosure with Glass Door, Cooling Fan, Locks, & Removable Side Panels - 12U Wall Mount Network Cabinet 19 Inch Rack 17.7" Deep (450mm)
  • DURABLE BUILD: Constructed from high-quality Cold Rolled Steel, the NavePoint Consumer Series 12U network cabinet boasts a sturdy, welded frame. Fitting EIA standard 19” networking equipment, this server cabinet confidently supports up to 110 lbs, providing a resilient base for your vital IT gear and equipment
  • CONVENIENT DESIGN: This 12U cabinet features a reinforced, heat-treated, tempered glass front door with a security lock. Perfect for applications requiring both security and accessibility, its compact design of 17.72"L x 21.65"W x 24.42"H offers a practical solution for space-constrained settings.
  • EASY & CUSTOMIZABLE EQUIPMENT SET UP - The 12U IT cabinet, with removable side panels and security locks, offers customization at its finest. Whether it's for an efficient device or cable management, this data cabinet ensures secure, adaptable configurations that suit your networking server requirements
  • ENHANCED VENTILATION & SECURITY - Built-in fans and flow-through ventilation work to prevent overheating, ensuring optimal operation of your equipment. The reinforced, lockable tempered glass front door not only boosts security but also facilitates easy monitoring of installed equipment.
  • SAFETY & COMPLIANCE - All NavePoint products are built to industry standards.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Support on Ko-Fi

Timeline

Date Event
September 6, 2011 Norwalk planning coverage identified Cervalis as the proposed tenant for a two-story project at 10 Norden Place.
January 2012 A later official City of Norwalk statement described plans for a roughly 167,000-square-foot Cervalis data center at Norden Park, with fourth-quarter occupancy expected.
August 13, 2012 Cervalis signed the long-term lease for the build-to-suit facility. Some archive pages display August 15, 2012.
January 30, 2014 Cervalis announced that the 168,000-square-foot high-availability data center had opened.

The fourth-quarter 2012 occupancy date was an original projection, not the final opening date. The available sources do not explain whether the difference resulted from construction, permitting, equipment, financing, or another factor, so it should not be labeled a confirmed delay for a specific reason.

What the project meant for infrastructure buyers

The Norwalk expansion reflected the early-2010s growth of outsourced infrastructure, managed hosting, colocation, and disaster recovery. A company could avoid the capital expense and operational burden of building a second facility by purchasing hosted capacity and related services from a specialist provider.

Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.

That model also creates important financial and operational questions. A buyer evaluating a comparable facility, cloud recovery service, or colocation arrangement should examine:

  1. Recovery-time and recovery-point objectives for each workload
  2. Whether the recovery site is geographically separate enough for the relevant threat model
  3. Power, cooling, and expansion commitments
  4. Network carriers, cloud connectivity, diverse paths, and cross-connect charges
  5. Which party manages hardware, monitoring, patching, security, and recovery tests
  6. Current audit reports and certifications rather than historical marketing claims
  7. Minimum terms, installation costs, power commitments, renewal terms, and exit costs
  8. Total cost, including bandwidth, storage, software, staffing, support, migration, and recovery exercises

Important historical limitations

Contemporary coverage referenced annual SSAE 16 audits, Cybertrust Service Provider certification, and PCI DSS certification. Those statements describe the company’s historical positioning around 2012 and should not be treated as evidence of certifications that remained current in 2026.

Likewise, the available research confirms the lease and the reported January 2014 opening, but it does not establish whether Cervalis still operates the Norwalk facility, who owns or manages it today, or whether the site continues under the Cervalis name. The project is therefore best understood as a historical Connecticut data-center expansion, not as a current vendor recommendation.

Sources

Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.

Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.

More post from the Money Desk

  1. The Money DeskBlogTheFinanceBase09 OCT 267 minMortgage Escrow FAQs: Taxes, Insurance, Shortages, and Refunds
  2. The Money DeskBlogTheFinanceBase09 OCT 265 minHow Mortgage Escrow Accounts Work and What Homeowners Pay For
  3. The Money DeskBlogTheFinanceBase09 OCT 265 minHow to Read a Stock Chart, Volume and Market-Cap Data
Recommended PC Tool
Recommended PC Tool
Windows Errors? Fix Them Before They SpreadFree repair scan
Crashes, No Sound, or Screen Glitches?Free driver scan

Two free Windows tools

One Free Minute Could Fix That PC

Before you go - each of these free tools takes about a minute and tackles what quietly slows a Windows PC down.

Special offer. View Outbyte info, uninstall instructions, EULA, and Privacy Policy.