A 1980s data center, ready for its next life
In 1988, Viacom built a 107,000 square foot data center facility in Secaucus, New Jersey. The building was eventually purchased by CPR, a real estate investment company, who needed the data center gutted and the building brought back to a point where it could be repurposed and re-leased.
Quantum Technology offered to do the job at no cost to CPR — using the recovered assets to pay for the labor, trucking, warehousing, rentals, machinery, admin and insurance, and still turn a profit.
Trace it, drain it, tear it out
With no blueprints to work from — Viacom had layered the wiring over many years — Quantum’s electricians spent four days tracing every circuit before the disconnects could begin. Rather than call in a glycol tanker, the crew drained the huge glycol system into 255-gallon totes for refining and resale.
From there the crew tore out the entire data center — floors, ceiling, piping, cabling and equipment — and removed the brick and glass partition walls, draining and certifying the removal of an underground tank along the way.
A 107,000 square foot facility, stripped back to a leasable shell — with everything inside resold or recycled rather than sent to landfill.
A full gut, inside and out
Technical infrastructure, structure and site — all handled by Quantum’s crews.
“You have a great talent where you can turn almost anything into money. I don’t know how you do it. I know how to buy properties and turn leases and sales into money. But I would love to learn how to do what you do.”
A leasable shell, paid for by its own assets
The building came back as a repurposable space, the equipment found new homes, and the relationship led to three more projects.
Done at no cost to CPR
The recovered assets covered the labor, trucking, warehousing and machinery — so the owner paid nothing out of pocket for the gut.
Everything resold or recycled
Dry coolers, UPSs, switchgear, cabinets, generators and glycol all went back into use rather than to landfill.
A relationship, not a one-off
The owner became a friend and a repeat client — Quantum went on to complete three more projects for him.
From the project
Need a building stripped back to a shell?
We gut data centers down to leasable space — and where the assets justify it, we can do the work at no cost to you, paid for by what we recover.