 Welcome to JSA TV where we're covering the latest stories trends and innovations from the leaders in global connectivity digital Infrastructure and the networks within and we are coming to you live. That's right live from Times Square New York City, New York, and I'm sitting here with the fellow Chicago in and and Times Square in New York City My new friend Mr. Craig Huffman Craig is the CEO of Metro Edge Development Partners Craig. It was great talking bears a little bit. It was awesome Beforehand it was it was great that you and I were able to bring the Chicago weather to New York Good luck charm. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So Craig. Let's jump right into it Why don't you tell our viewers a little bit about the Metro Edge business model? Yeah, so Metro Edge is Metro Edge is a commercial real estate firm My background is 20 years real estate private equity firm the firms that I found it and successfully exited I found it Metro Edge in 2020 with the idea that the business model would look at urban infill sites For data center development in addition to other assets really our premises We focus on real estate that sits at the intersection of technology and commercial real estate Okay, so I'm gonna go off script a little bit only because I feel like you can handle it I guess So I work in PR marketing been been doing in in data center and telecom technology industry for the last 13 years one thing that I have noticed particularly probably like in the last five years is that where you and I call home the Midwest is becoming a Dare I say like technology hot spot It is absolutely why that's I think some of the same factors that led to Because Chicago's in the middle of the country. Yeah, you think about the rail system You think about shipping you think about the history of Chicago is being a port city a destination location I think in a similar way because when you talk about railway you're talking about fiber running along the railways And so the convenience and the fact that it's in the middle of the country, right? Transit be a plane. It's certainly a lot easier Absolutely absolutely so Chicago has a lot of natural advantages. I think the city itself is warming up to data centers I think there have been some misunderstandings about why data centers are important I've been trying to break that myth for a long time and honestly you see it all over the country I think people have a misconception that data centers are net negative, right and yet the same people may Communicate that using the very technology that data centers support and so on one hand We all are addicted to the speed of technology today, right? Yeah, but on the other hand Many of us do not understand the infrastructure that supports that very technology and data centers are an important part of that And how that infrastructure is changing with the next Absolutely of technology absolutely how important what it is that you're doing Yeah, is to the future of not of the data center of course, but of the technology of the of the Breakthroughs that are happening within the data center. Absolutely. Have a direct Direct hand in what and what's happening there. I'm gonna go back to the script now. I promise no problem Okay, so how hard is it for newer players to break into the data center development industry that is a Loaded question. It is very challenging. I like to joke and say I'm not really a gambler I learned in business school that the house always wins. Yeah, I would say that unless you have a lot of capital to put it risk The data center business may not be for you, right? The cost of entry is a barrier to entry And so ultimately when you think about the price to build a new facility over a thousand bucks a foot when you talk About the equipment and the buildouts over two thousand bucks a foot Those numbers are staggering compared to traditional real estate, and so this is a unique asset class It certainly is important, but the costs are Significant and so if you're a startup working out of the basement of your home It's difficult to envision a path where you can go build a 20 plus megawatt facility as we are contemplating in Chicago Yeah, you're not going to get a Manhattan apartment on minimum wage. No, no absolutely not But um, okay, so the last question urban versus suburb that another great version Yeah, yeah, so I think there's a unique opportunity when you think of urban So in the case of Chicago, we have a site on the near west side of Chicago Located in a medical district the Illinois medical district and one of the interesting things the medical district has been around for almost 40 Plus years and one of the things that happened when the medical district was created is they Cleared out land they demolished older buildings and they created a space that now has hospitals has all kinds of health care Infrastructure that needs to lean into technology. Why is that relevant to the urban because is AI continues to expand? We're gonna need to rethink the model of what a data center is these campuses that are in suburban footprints or Remote locations ultimately are one model. I think there's also going to be an opportunity to say how do we get closer? Or how we get on the edge right on in 10 days and how do we get closer to the end user? So I don't think it's either or I think it's both and I think for our model We believe that areas that have seen an exodus whether it was 50 60 years ago Yeah, oftentimes the infrastructure still is in place. They create some opportunity to re-imagine Could we rethink how data centers replace manufacturing facilities or the kinds of development? Yeah, at one point in time was the only way we could think about Greenfield Yeah, so with data centers in our need to access or provide greater access to Technology right to all that we all rely upon. It's important And so the urban I think will increasingly become a more important part of the model In part because of what AI is pushing us to look at, you know, um, I feel like we could talk the entire way Absolutely about just this but I love what you said about that because like it Getting the data center as close to those hospitals as humanly absolutely And the latency issues that be that that become no longer an issue Are ushering in that the next the next step of what AI can Absolutely do absolutely about AI in the data center and we and we've got that data center literally butted right up against a hospital AI in I'm not thinking about AI in the hospital anymore Yeah thinking about AI in the operating absolutely AI and the doctors Absolutely, that's what it's endless when you think about it I mean all industries are being impacted by AI because it's an opportunity to look at the past to determine the future To use data as part of your analysis to better understand how you should build your business Yeah, to be scalable and so it's an interesting opportunity But one point I do want to add on the challenges of urban oftentimes I think they're misconceptions about what data centers are and what they are not right one percent Currently of the world's power is consumed by data centers and people look at it and say oh, that's a bad thing But I say okay. Well, do you want to go back to fax machines? Do you want to go back to dial up? I mean because you can't have it both ways right that's all part of this evolution Yeah, the other thing that I think is a lot of Municipality you've seen on the east coast beginning to say hey not in my backyard Well, who's backyard because we all are addicted to the speed of technology And so the opportunity is to begin to educate Local electives really telling people that this is something community component You have to be relational not just transactional And I think this industry has been dominated by really smart people that know how to design really complicated things Yes, but I think there's also an aspect where you have to sit down almost like a politician Yeah, there's a Person that I work with many years ago that went on to become president. You've got a bill relationships authentically So that you have an opportunity over time to have people really bought in to why this is important for local community And I love that message so much I could not agree with you more as from a you know from my seat on the PR marketing side that message That story is ultimately what changes the the mystery or the mystique or oftentimes the The the wrong view absolutely of what a data center is, you know This is unsightly building that's sucking up the electricity and taking all of my resources and doing all that's right instead of no What happens in there is bringing the future to the businesses in this area think of the pandemic Had it not been for the infrastructure that existed, right? People would not have been able to work remotely during cove it. Yeah, and so technology was a savior Imagine a cove it happened in the 70s, right? Yeah now certainly Providers overnight shipping companies and others would have been very happy, but in this current day You know day in time We're looking at technology and allowed us to continue with the economy moving that the way that it did And so these are all facts that I think are very important and oftentimes get overlooked I also think you know again, it's just educating people on why is this so important because if you go back in time What people don't understand they often fear Go back far enough in time Witches right because they did this thing called magic. Yeah, well for a lot of folks, right? How you get your email? How your phone works? How your computer works? How your iPad works? Yeah is in the realm of magic. Yeah, and so the things that we don't understand We can fear if we're not educated and that's why a public education strategy is so important for this industry to continue to grow Craig I see a lot of that former president I Do I do and a great man Molded a lot of my views and help was very helpful to me I love it so much and I feel that compassion. I feel that energy coming from you Best of luck to you and all of your efforts. Thank you in the future. Of course. Thank you so much. Thank you very much I appreciate you bet and thank you viewers for watching JSA TV. Stay curious and connected and we will see you soon