Project Mercury (1623 Farnam)

[Coyote]

1623 Farnam $800k renovation.

News Press & Gazette Company announced today that it has acquired Nebraska Data Centers at 1623 Farnam in Omaha, NE. This facility is the nexus for local, national and international carriers, enterprises, network operators, and cloud providers in the region. The investment represents an opportunity for renewal and expansion at 1623 Farnam, ultimately converting the facility into a world-class carrier neutral hotel in downtown Omaha.

The region will benefit by offering more reliable interconnection and secure high performance edge data center solutions. Nebraska Data Centers is the most network-rich, carrier neutral interconnection facility in the region. NDC has more than 40 network, content, cloud, and IT services providers serving as the primary gateway to user networks.

“NPG sees tremendous opportunity with Nebraska Data Centers and its current management team. Our partnership leverages the NDC team’s vision for the facility with NPG’s extensive resources and experience in technology infrastructure. Our master plan will include capital improvements of more than $30 million over the next 5 years.” said Brian Bradley, President of NPG.

“We are excited to have a Midwest family company in NPG make a significant resource and financial commitment that will allow us to continue building value in our carrier hotel for our customers. We look forward to the opportunity to continue to manage a facility with expansive fiber connectivity, within a highly strategic location as a world class carrier neutral interconnection facility”. Said Todd Cushing, President of Nebraska Data Centers.

The new company will be called 1623 Farnam, LLC.

[Coyote]

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[buildomaha]

If I'm completely honest I am not understanding what they mean by "Carrier Hotel" I'm not super familiar with the data industry.

[daveoma]

Is this that dark brown building? I love that it's being remodeled.

[Coyote]

If I'm completely honest I am not understanding what they mean by "Carrier Hotel" I'm not super familiar with the data industry.

A carrier hotel, also called a colocation center, is a secure physical site or building where data communications media converge and are interconnected. It is common for numerous service providers to share the facilities of a single carrier hotel. This minimizes overhead and optimizes communications efficiency for all participants as long as the infrastructure is sufficient to handle all the data at times of peak demand. A carrier hotel is a sizable facility, often containing more than 5000 square meters (approximately 54,000 square feet) of floor space. Businesses that benefit from the use of carrier hotels include Web site hosting companies, storage service providers and telecommunications companies.

Colocation refers to the provision of space for a customer's communications equipment on the service provider's premises. For example, the owner of a Web site can place the site's servers on the premises of an Internet service provider (ISP). A carrier hotel provides colocation on a massive scale, offering various services to customers ranging from modest-sized racks to dedicated rooms or groups of rooms. Some carrier hotels offer hardware and software installation, maintenance and update services. A carrier hotel may also house a meeting room where human representatives for all the companies or guests served by the facility can exchange information and ideas of common interest.

[Coyote]

Is this that dark brown building? I love that it's being remodeled.

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[BRoss]

That's interesting that it's the only carrier hotel. I thought the CenturyLink building at 20th & Douglas was one too.

[Coyote]

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[ita]

Here is an update from OWH on this project that was published a few weeks back. The renovation is going to cost $40 million and while this isn't creating many permanent positions, this will open up Omaha for good exposure with companies that need to strengthen their networks cross country.

1623 Farnam, strategically in middle of U.S., is undergoing a $40 million renovation

[Cermak]

I always liked that building. American Charter Bank once occupied it. Very innovative design especially for back then, it’s aged well. Glad it’s found another use.

[iamjacobm]

They announced they will be expanding with a second facility. https://www.1623farnam.com/2026/01/16/1 ... -facility/

OMAHA – January 19, 2026– 1623 Farnam, a regional leader in network-neutral edge interconnection and data center services, announces it has closed on a second interconnection facility in Omaha, significantly expanding its regional footprint and long-term capacity to support network-driven growth.

The new facility will complement 1623 Farnam’s flagship carrier hotel and is planned to be operational in mid-2028, delivering at least 5MW of capacity while reinforcing the company’s interconnection-first strategy and commitment to the Midwest as a critical meet-in-the-middle market for cloud, carrier, wireless and content ecosystems.

“We are proud to announce we have closed on our second interconnection facility in Omaha,” said Bill Severn, CEO & President of 1623 Farnam. “This expansion builds upon the premier, most connected interconnection facility in the entire Midwest and positions us to create the next edge interconnection hub for the region.”

They don't explicitly say where, but it does look like this group recently bought this building on the NW corner of 19th and St. Mary's so likely here.

[nativeomahan]

What is, and where will be, this “flagship carrier hotel”?

[Louie]

What is, and where will be, this “flagship carrier hotel”?

It's this building:


Carrier hotel is where multiple telecomms, isps, clouds etc can rent server space en masse, hence the 'hotel' moniker.