GI Partners has purchased Komo Plaza, a 294,000 square foot data facility and office space, from real estate investment firm Hines Interests LP. The buyer, a middle-market private equity firm, paid approximately $276 million for the target. Komo Plaza is a Seattle-based carrier hotel combining a data center and office retail space in a two-building campus. 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. The deal for Komo Plaza gives the buyer access to more domestic fiber routes and transpacific undersea cables. GI Partners is a San Francisco-based PE firm with nearly 15 years of experience investing in data centers, carrier hotels and other tech-focused real estate. The buyer also owns the One Wilshire building, a Los Angeles-based carrier hotel and communications hub with access to Asia and West Coast interconnection environments. Hines, founded in 1957, is a privately-owned investment management firm with a tailored approach to global real estate investing. The Texas-based firm has more nearly $93.2 billion in assets under management with a presence across 193 cities and 20 countries. Hines has approximately 105 real estate developments currently underway. Deals for data centers have become increasingly attractive for dealmakers of all kinds in the middle market. Recent deals include: Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) selling its data centers to Equinix Inc. (Nasdaq: EQIX) to focus on mobile video advertising; Equinix continuing its buying spree by adding Bit-isle Inc.; Fusion Telecommunications International Inc. (Nasdaq: FSNN) buying call center software company Technology for Business Corp.; and TierPoint LLC agreeing to buy Cosentry.