Digital Realty Signals $A365 Million Boost for Western Melbourne

MELBOURNE, Australia, Feb. 15, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- At a ground-breaking ceremony today for the first of two planned data centres at Deer Park in the Western Melbourne Region, Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR), a leading global provider of data centre solutions, announced that the entire project is expected to have a positive economic impact on the region estimated at $A365 million. The event was attended by the Victorian Government Minister for Technology, Mr. Gordon Rich-Phillips, as well as numerous additional members of the business community.

Mr. Kris Kumar, Regional Head, Asia Pacific at Digital Realty said: "In addition to direct economic impact projected to be approximately $365 million, we believe there will be a ripple effect on regional businesses which will also benefit western Melbourne significantly. There is also potential for training and skills development for employees in small to medium enterprises in the data centre industry."

He said the data centre developments are expected to provide approximately 220 direct jobs in the construction and operations phases, and more than 450 additional indirect jobs in the region.

Mr. Kumar said: "We are actively engaged in discussions with a number of serious prospects for our Australian data centres. With our Australian staff in place, we are able to deliver secure, reliable and cost effective data centre solutions to customers that are expanding their IT operations in the region."

Digital Realty completed the acquisition of the 30,250 sq m development site at 72 and 98 Radnor Drive, Deer Park, within the Paramount Industrial Park development, in August 2011 for a purchase price of approximately $A4.1 million. Already Digital Realty has announced that National Australia Bank has signed a long-term Turn-Key Datacentre® lease for the first building, at 98 Radnor Drive. The lease was signed in the fourth quarter of 2011. This new 5,000 square metre data centre facility is scheduled for completion in early 2013. The first building constructed will be capable of supporting the development of two 1440 kW Turn-Key Datacentre® PODs(1). The second project, 72 Radnor Drive, will be capable of supporting the development of four 440 kW Turn-Key Datacentre PODs. 

Digital Realty has also acquired a 3.48 hectare development site in Sydney, for a purchase price of approximately $A10.7 million.  The site, located in Erskine Park, an industrial precinct located in the Western Sydney Employment Hub, is capable of supporting approximately 18,600 square meters of data centre development with over 11.5MW of IT capacity.

About Digital Realty Trust, Inc.

Digital Realty Trust, Inc. focuses on delivering customer driven data centre solutions by providing secure, reliable and cost effective facilities that meet each customer's unique data centre needs. Digital Realty's customers include domestic and international companies across multiple industry verticals ranging from information technology and Internet enterprises, to manufacturing and financial services. Digital Realty's 101 properties, excluding three properties held as investments in unconsolidated joint ventures, comprise approximately 18.3 million square feet as of 30 January, 2012, including 2.4 million square feet of space held for redevelopment. Digital Realty's portfolio is located in 31 markets throughout Europe, North America, Singapore and Australia. Additional information about Digital Realty is included in the Company Overview, which is available on the Investors page of Digital Realty's website at http://www.digitalrealty.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements which are based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially, including statements related to our development projects and the expected economic impact on the Western Melbourne region, expected number of local jobs to be created, and projected construction costs, and other direct and indirect benefits from the development projects, and expected size, timing and IT capacity of development projects. These risks and uncertainties include, among others, the following: the impact of the recent deterioration in global economic, credit and market conditions, including the downgrading of the U.S. government's credit rating; current local economic conditions in our geographic markets; decreases in information technology spending, including as a result of economic slowdowns or recession; adverse economic or real estate developments in our industry or the industry sectors that we sell to (including risks relating to decreasing real estate valuations and impairment charges); our dependence upon significant tenants; bankruptcy or insolvency of a major tenant or a significant number of smaller tenants; defaults on or non-renewal of leases by tenants; our failure to obtain necessary debt and equity financing; increased interest rates and operating costs; risks associated with using debt to fund our business activities, including re-financing and interest rate risks, our failure to repay debt when due, adverse changes in our credit ratings or our breach of covenants or other terms contained in our loan facilities and agreements; financial market fluctuations; changes in foreign currency exchange rates; our inability to manage our growth effectively; difficulty acquiring or operating properties in foreign jurisdictions; our failure to successfully integrate and operate acquired or redeveloped properties; risks related to joint venture investments, including as a result of our lack of control of such investments; delays or unexpected costs in development or redevelopment of properties; decreased rental rates or increased vacancy rates; increased competition or available supply of data center space; our inability to successfully develop and lease new properties and space held for redevelopment; difficulties in identifying properties to acquire and completing acquisitions; our inability to acquire off-market properties; our inability to comply with the rules and regulations applicable to reporting companies; our failure to maintain our status as a REIT; possible adverse changes to tax laws; restrictions on our ability to engage in certain business activities; environmental uncertainties and risks related to natural disasters; losses in excess of our insurance coverage; changes in foreign laws and regulations, including those related to taxation and real estate ownership and operation; and changes in local, state and federal regulatory requirements, including changes in real estate and zoning laws and increases in real property tax rates.  For a further list and description of such risks and uncertainties, see the reports and other filings by the Company with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010 and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2011, June 30, 2011 and September 30, 2011.  The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

(1) Digital Realty's POD Architecture's® combination of standard components and incremental methodology dramatically reduces the time required for the company to complete the construction of each 900 – 1,100 sqm of space.

For Additional Information:

A. William Stein
Chief Financial Officer and
Chief Investment Officer
Digital Realty Trust, Inc.
+1 (415) 738-6500                                                                                          

Pamela M. Garibaldi
Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Marketing
Digital Realty Trust, Inc.
+1 (415) 738-6500

Kris Kumar
Regional Head Asia Pacific
Digital Realty Trust, Inc.
+65 65053900

David Frost
PR Deadlines Pty Ltd, for Digital Realty Trust, Inc.
+61.2.4341 5021
[email protected]

SOURCE Digital Realty Trust, Inc.