Core42, the cloud and AI infrastructure subsidiary of Abu Dhabi's G42 Group, has leased 20 megawatts of capacity in a facility converted from commercial office space. This transformation reflects a larger trend where AI systems are generating demand for data centers while simultaneously displacing traditional office jobs.
The site includes 31-32 Soho Square - formerly known as Twentieth Century House, 65-66 Frith Street, 10 Chapone Place and 22-25 Dean Street. The Twentieth Century House, which comprises most of the site facing Soho Square, was built in 1936 for Twentieth Century-Fox Film Company and served as its head office until they moved out in 2020. It's been empty ever since.
Area 2 Farms is a three-year-old company based in Arlington, Virginia, that's taking the concept of indoor farming to unusual spaces. Its first farm, in Arlington, grows dozens of varieties of crops in a low-slung brick building tucked between a dog day care and a car repair shop. With a new infusion of venture capital, the company is planning to expand, and it's looking to empty office buildings as potential future farms.
