Data Center Construction a Surprising Boon to Young General Contractor
(01-01-2004)

Meade Construction Group, Inc. announced the commencement of two new construction projects - the expansion of a critical data center recovery site for eSignal in Hayward, CA, and the expansion of a colocation data center for Switch & Data in Palo Alto, CA.

Meade, based in San Jose, began business in 2004 with a plan to focus on building market share in the demanding construction disciplines of hospital renovation projects and technical R&D laboratories. These fields require extreme sophistication and expertise in the construction of critical building systems as well as rigorous project controls to ensure projects do not interfere with patient care or sensitive R&D work.

Meade's team is specialized in these skill areas and in their first year of business they were called on to construct an impressive portfolio of healthcare and high tech projects: MRI suites, a dialysis center, cleanroom expansions, a biotechnology lab, several electronics R&D labs and a number of building infrastructure projects.

What no one predicted - only five years after the dot-com bust left a trail of empty buildings throughout Silicon Valley - is that data center construction would be the type of work to vault Meade into market primacy.

Meade is expanding eSignal's data center just off the San Mateo Bridge in Hayward. Commuters are familiar with the stock market ticker on the side of their building. eSignal is a leading provider of streaming, real-time market data, news, analytics, and decision support tools to professional and individual traders. This project more than doubles their existing data center and provides full redundancy and back-up power to the expanded data center that will be used by eSignal and its affiliates.


Switch & Data of Tampa, FL delivers comprehensive colocation, interconnection, and peering solutions in a neutral marketplace built for business with 35 datacenters in 23 markets across North America. In May, Meade will begin a large-scale renovation project at Switch & Data's building in Palo Alto. The former hub for the Peer And Internet Exchange, or PAIX.net, which was purchased in 2003 by Switch & Data, this building includes an historic fa?ade which must be preserved, as well as a space-age interior housing one of the west coast's premier server farms and an internet switching facility.

Switch & Data's project requires Meade to provide seismic reinforcing throughout this century old structure. All interior offices will be removed and replaced with a 10,000 square foot raised floor data center and three floors of cooling, power distribution and back-up equipment. The existing data center and internet switch must be maintained in continuous operation throughout this work. This extremely complex project is being planned and executed in minute detail using just-in-time delivery scheduling for major materials and equipment in order to minimize traffic impacts in this busy downtown location.

Meade Construction Group, Inc. continues to expand its capabilities in hospital and high tech building, projecting an annual volume of work this year in excess of $20,000,000. Started in 2004 by construction veterans Andrew Meade, Jillian Dressel, Mickey Wagle, Donald Buckmaster and Dolores Manriquez, Meade Construction Group, Inc. operates as a licensed general contractor with projects throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.