FEATURED PROJECT
BBIF Invests $9.9M with NTMC Financing in Central Florida Data Center
HIGHLIGHTS
$35 Million Total Project Cost
95,00 Square Feet of New Construction
Free 4G WiFi for the Entire Town
Free STEM education to Local Schools
102 Full-Time Jobs Created
HostDime
ABOUT HOSTDIME
Hostdime is a 100% Minority-Owned Global Data Center Provider
In 2003, Manny Vivar, founder, CEO, and President of Global Operations, founded and opened the first data center and flagship facility in Eatonville, Florida. Eatonville, located in the greater Orlando area, is most known due to it being the first town in the United States to be incorporated by African Americans. Over the years, HostDime has grown into a premier global data center company with additional facilities located in Los Angeles, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, U.K., India, and Hong Kong.
THE CHALLENGE
Insufficient Data Center For Growing Needs Of Customers
HostDime’s current flagship data center, located in Central Florida is nearing capacity, presenting a challenge for the company. With the increasing demand for digital services and cloud computing, HostDime’s data center in Orlando is no longer sufficient to meet the growing needs of their customers.
THE SOLUTION
New $35 Million Building to Serve as USA Flagship Data Center
To solve this issue, HostDime proposed a $35 million project to build a new facility that will combine the current data center with their corporate headquarters in downtown Orlando. The new 100,000 square-foot data center structure will be the first purpose-built data center in Central Florida, serving as Orlando’s primary interconnection and edge facility and becoming the flagship USA facility for their global client base. The project will be financed through investments from the federal New Market Tax Credit (NMTC) from BBIF and other community development lenders, as well as Fifth Third Bank and HostDime.
THE IMPACT
New Data Center Will be a Game Changer in Central Florida
“The Hostdime project is an important initiative for our Organization, for Hostdime, and the community of Eatonville, the oldest historically Black town in America,” said Duane Lewis, BBIF COO. Upon completion in Q2 of 2023, the new facility will feature a three-floor wing dedicated to data operations, seven client-focused floors, a STEM lab and internet museum housed on the first floor, and the top floor will double as a training center and conference space. The new data center will create 102 full-time jobs with some of the positions being attainable to individuals who may only have a high school diploma. Additionally it will provide the entire town of Eatonville with free 4G Wi-Fi. This project is significant because it will be the only Tier IV public data center in Central Florida, allowing the company to be a significant interconnection axis for public cloud and fiber networks in the Southeastern United States and South America. Additionally, the project will attract more investments and developments into the Eatonville community and provide free STEM education in partnership with local schools.
We are very excited and proud to bring such an impactful development to the Historic Town of Eatonville. The Town has been an instrumental partner in our efforts, and we kept the local community impact in mind as we designed this facility. Equally, we have a strong initiative to help and inspire our youth while creating more jobs. We are very proud that all our financial partners (Fifth Third Bank, BBIF, Mid-City CDE) saw our vision, and we are grateful for everyone who made this a reality. Thank you!
Manny Vivar
CEO & President of HostDime
