BIODOME

It's not your typical corporate headquarters, either. Infomart is a seven-story, 1.6 million square-foot technology office jungle with room for tradeshows, conferences, entertainment and celebrations, plus space for any savvy upstart telco to find a room (or two) of its own.

It's in Dallas, where, of course, everything is big. Conceived as part of the Dallas Market Center-a strip of mega-malls specified by industry-Infomart was designed by Trammell Crow, a man whose company, Crow Holdings, is rumored to be the largest real estate developer in the world.

According to Infomart President and General Manager Tom Jones, Crow envisioned a 365-day-a-year tradeshow for information technologists-a place where different types of businesses in the technology industry could "come together and explore solutions." This was still in the early '80s, when "information technology" consisted mainly of hardware.

Ron Scott, president of Nextlink One, an affiliate of CLEC Nextlink and an Infomart tenant: "In the beginning, telecom was there, but it was a subset, not a primary business."

But then, as we all know, things started to change. New tenants with different ethnic backgrounds moved in. But no strife. It was more like a telecom melting pot.

"First came the third-party vendors and a desire to integrate hardware and software in new ways," Jones says. "And then the Internet came along. Telcos started preparing for the data revolution."

Deregulation created a real opportunity for carriers to get involved with Infomart, adds Scott. "It had this tremendous infrastructure that serves as a natural support system for CLECs. It had all the fundamentals to migrate into a telco facility," he says.

It took just one of Infomart's residents, MFS/Telenet, to install a switch in the building-and the site started to look like a good place for telcos of all shapes and sizes to move in and call home.

"The telcos like us because, [even though] the original vision of the building was for computers, it's also very hospitable for telecom equipment," Jones says. Things like: Five 1500-ton centrifugal chillers keep the redundant air conditioning system running 24-7. Things like: You can get up to 20 watts of power per square foot, which is about three times as much as your average office facility. Oh, and then there's the fiber network out of the building, provided by Southwestern Bell, Brooks Fiber, WorldCom, Teleport Communications Group and Teligent. There's also an in-building network ready and able for videoconferencing and voice-data-video integration, and an in-building wireless network supplied by Nokia.

Right now, there are about 14 switches in the building, Jones says. In fact, since the beginning of 1997, more than half of Infomart's new tenants have been telecom providers or related companies. This is because unlike carrier hotels, which just serve as industrial space, Infomart gives telcos a chance to sell their products, Jones suggests.

"We think commerce will sprout out around the switches," he says. "I liken it to the foundry of years past. Our artisans of today are those who are building out information services."

There is also the social value of many like-minded companies being together. "We call it an ecosystem," Jones says. "All of these different resident companies coming together to enjoy the synergy." Common eating spaces, for example, provide opportunities for people from an ISP, a software vendor and a CLEC to chat about the competitive landscape, or whatever else is going on, he says.

Welcome to the Biodome.

CLEC Allegiance Telecom is based in Infomart. "I think it's the best high-tech building in America," says Royce Holland, Allegiance chairman and CEO. He says the social component of the mega-mall is an ideal way to draw in potential customers, and it's a great place for housing telecom equipment. Allegiance has a switch and a network access point in the building.

The company also had its holiday party in the main foyer-which provided plenty of room for a cozy group-600 people. "I haven't seen anything else like it," Holland says, adding that the building isn't hard on the eyes either. He offers up the fact that Infomart is modeled after the Crystal Palace, the host site of the 1851 World's Fair in London, and built by Prince Albert. The palace burned to the ground in 1936, but Infomart has been recognized by Parliament as the "official successor" to the showplace.

Unrivaled architecture aside, Focal Communications has just decided to set up shop in Infomart because of the unique way it fulfills the requirements of a telco. "We need a lot of power, excess air conditioning, high ceilings, floor loading capacity-and we've found all of that in Infomart," says John Barnicle, chief operations officer of Focal. "It's not just a carrier hotel, it's a class A office building."

He thinks the new office will not only provide a viewing point for new customers, it also has an advantage in developing a new staff.

"There are so many related businesses in the building, I think there will be the possibility of luring people from other companies," he says.

Jones agrees that this has been an "unexpected advantage" for telcos in Infomart. "Their No. 1 problem is finding and retaining key people," he says. "Here they can find like-minded citizens who can talk over the details of the job over drinks and food."

The fact that other CLECs reside in the building "doesn't hurt" either, Barnicle says. "At this stage, we can help each other out more than we compete. We have a common enemy."

As a retail arm of a CLEC, Nextlink One takes advantage of Infomart's showplace capacity. "We have products set up in a conference room, and customers can try out everything from voice mail to calling cards," Scott says. "We also believe that we should be within 15 foot-minutes of our customers. We have that in this facility."

Jones says CLECs are drawn in by the infrastructure, and they find it to be a "comfortable, customer-friendly venue." Other kinds of companies come for different reasons, but "that's what synergy is all about," he says. "That's how an ecosystem is sustainable."

So is it amazing that the concept of this building came in 1984? Jones thinks so.

"When I was hired, I challenged Crow on the name 'Infomart'-I thought it should be called Computermart," Jones says. "He said there was no such thing-computers were not going to be separate entities. Now the name is better suited than ever before."