Data Center Investment News — 2/06/2023
Scala launches 6MW data center in São Paulo, Brazil
The company this week announced the launch of the 6MW single-tenant SGRUTB05 data center on its Tamboré campus in Barueri City. Spanning 6,700 sqm (72,670 sq ft), the five-story facility offers capacity for 400 racks.
The facility is dedicated to a single hyperscale customer, which also has a reserved capacity of 100MW to be distributed in other data centers at the complex.
The data center uses waterless air-cooling and offers a PUE of 1.4. Scala noted it was the second tallest data center in the country, after SGRUTB04, its neighbor on the same campus.
“As the third operational single-tenant site at the Tamboré Campus, SGRUTB05 reinforces Scala’s successful strategy of not only enabling unprecedented volumes in the Latin American market, accommodating the growth of our customer’s IT infrastructure for decades, but also offering a secure, fast and flexible approach through multiple constructions,” said Marcos Peigo, Scala’s CEO and co-founder.
American Tower appoints Martin Bouchard as new Germany CEO
As first reported by Telco Titans, Bouchard replaces Philipp Riederer, who is moving to a new role as vice president of marketing & business intelligence at American Tower Europe.
According to Bouchard’s LinkedIn, he joined ATC in January of this year from Deutsche Funkturm, a TowerCo spin-off of Deutsche Telekom AG, where he previously spent a large portion of his career.
During this time at DT, Bouchard held several leadership positions at the telco, notably as senior VP of technical planning and rollout, plus a role that saw him manage fixed network targets.
In his new role, he will oversee the growth of ATC’s German business.
ClaroVTR to expand Chile data center by 3,000 sqm
The telco joint venture company is planning a 3,000 sqm (32,300 sq ft) expansion of its data center in Liray, Colina, bringing its total footprint to 5,000 sqm (53,820 sq ft).
ClaroVTR has spent $320 million on the data center, including this new phase of expansion.
Alfredo Parot, general manager of ClaroVTR, said: “We feel very proud and take a new and important step towards the consolidation of our services and leadership in the segment of large corporations and companies in the country. This third phase of our data center.”
Parot added: “This investment is yet another example of our great commitment and that of our investors, Liberty Latin America and America Móvil, with the development of our industry and growth in Chile. In addition, this investment directly contributes to the consolidation of Chile as a digital hub in the region.”
Mapletree Industrial Trust acquires data center in Osaka, Japan
Mapletree Industrial Trust Management Ltd., as manager of Mapletree Industrial Trust (MIT), this week announced the acquisition of a newly-built data center in Osaka, Japan.
It was acquired through the purchase of the trust beneficial interest for JPY52 billion ($372.8m), which will be financed through a combination of debt and proceeds from an equity fundraising. The deal is set to close in Q3 2023.
MIT has entered into a conditional trust beneficial interest purchase and sale agreement with Suma Tokutei Mokuteki Kaisha, and will be acquiring a 98.47 percent stake in the property.
Set on a 45,280 square foot (4,200 sqm) site, the data center spans a total of 143,500 sq ft (13,330 sqm) with 136,900 sq ft (12,720 sqm) of lettable space and a reported 10MW of capacity. The property has a 70-year land lease commencing on October 1, 2020.
Digital Realty files to build 13-story data center in Los Angeles, California
First reported by Urbanize LA, Digital Realty has filed to develop a 13-story data center at 727 S Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles.
The applicant is GIP 7th Street LLC, a known Digital Realty subsidiary. The site is currently a multi-story parking lot.
The facility, located across the street from the Digital Realty LAX10 data center at 600 W. 7th Street, would total around 486,000 square feet (45,150 sqm) of floor area.
Digital Realty is yet to comment on the project.
First built in 1914 for the JW Robinson Company, 600 W. 7th Street was used as a large department store until the early 1990s. Today, the seven-story LAX10 offers 27MW across a 490,000 sq ft (45,522 sqm) footprint. A major carrier hotel in the area, it is only a block away from the One Wilshire carrier hotel. Digital acquired the site in 2004.
Panama Digital Gateway data center to launch in June
Sparkle’s vice president for the Americas, Mauricio Traverso, confirmed that the Panama City data center was almost ready for operations and will launch in June.
The Panama Digital Gateway project is a data center and submarine integration system being carried out by Sparkle and Panamanian telco Trans Ocean Network. The two companies formed a joint venture in 2021 to build the new facility.
The data center will span 3,200 sqm (34,450 sq ft) of colocation space and offer 5MW of capacity across 600 racks. The facility was originally expected to be completed in 2022 but, according to Sparkle, was delayed by the pandemic and supply chain issues.
The facility will connect to Sparkle’s submarine network as well as be able to host future subsea systems targeting Central America.
Data4 launches Polish data center campus outside Warsaw
“We are very pleased to announce the opening of our new campus in Poland, located in Jawczyce, near Warsaw!” the company said on LinkedIn this week.
At full build-out, the four-hectare Warsaw campus will offer 60MW and 15,000 sqm across four buildings.
First announced in July 2021, Data4 broke ground on the €200 million ($237m) campus in January 2022. The first building was originally set to launch in Q1 2023.
Established in 2006 by Colony Capital (now DigitalBridge), the company was acquired by AXA Investment Managers for an undisclosed amount in 2018, before being acquired by Brookfield Infrastructure earlier this year for a deal estimated to be worth around $3.8bn.
Data4 currently operates around 30 data centers in France, Italy, Spain, and Luxembourg.
UK hospital gets new data center in £400m rebuild
Kettering General Hospital (KGH) in Northamptonshire had its rebuild confirmed in a meeting in the House of Commons.
The project will see the KGH, which has been located at the same site for 126 years, get a “£400m+ fully funded, redeveloped, improved and expanded” hospital by 2030, with construction kicking off in 2028.
Philip Hollobone, Kettering MP, said: “This is really good news for local residents. The redevelopment of KGH is the number one local priority for local people.”
“I have been pressing the government to reconfirm its commitment to the redevelopment of KGH and I am really pleased that the Secretary of State has confirmed to me in person in the House of Commons that the funding commitment is fully secured in line with the original development timeline,” Hollobone added.
Telehouse launches data center in Bangkok, Thailand
The KDDI-owned company recently held an opening ceremony for the new facility located at Rama 9 in Bangkok.
First announced in January 2022, the 9,000 sqm (97,000 sq ft) facility offers 9.5MVA of capacity. The company said it had invested $74 million in the project.
Ken Miyashita, Managing Director of Telehouse Thailand, said: “We are very excited to announce and celebrate our official opening in Bangkok. With our location in the heart of the city, Telehouse Thailand will provide secure and reliable data center services to act as a connectivity hub in Southeast Asia. We are ready to elevate data center standards and contribute to the digital society in the country and region.”
Established in 1988 and owned by Japanese telco KDDI, Telehouse has operations in 15 cities globally, including in the US, UK, France, Germany, China, Singapore, Vietnam, and Japan.
Equinix to open third Dubai data centre
Equinix will open its third International Business Exchange (IBX) data centre in Dubai.
Once fully built out, the new site, which will be known as DX3, will offer 1,800 cabinets of capacity across two phases or a total footprint of 12,000 square meters (135,000 square feet), making it the largest Equinix data centre in the region.
With an investment of over US$60 million in the first phase, the building will reinforce the company’s commitment to the region, Equinix said in a release.
The Dubai campus, comprising DX3 and DX1 data centres, is the UAE’s regional connectivity hub.
Pure DC launches data center in Jakarta, Indonesia
“Pure DC officially launched its first hyperscale data center in Indonesia last week! With 20MW IT load capacity, it is ready to support digitalization and cloud computing in the region,” Chandra Irawan, Pure’s country manager/director for Indonesia said on LinkedIn.
Pure CEO Dame Dawn Childs added: “Fantastic to visit Chandra Irawan and the team out in Jakarta and officially open our hyperscale data center there. The first for Pure DC in that region.”
In April 2021, Pure and APAC logistics real estate firm Logos announced plans to build the data center in the Indonesian capital. The 20,000 square meter (215,000 sq ft), 20MW project was originally set to be ready for customer operation in Q1 2022.
The two companies later announced plans to partner for data centers across APAC, though further details weren’t revealed at the time.
SoftBank plans to build “distributed AI data centers” across Japan, filled with Nvidia servers
The company provided few details on its plan, unveiled at Computex in Taipei, but said that it would rely on servers using Nvidia’s GH200 Grace Hopper Superchip. It will also use Nvidia’s newly-announced MGX reference architecture for its server design.
SoftBank currently owns cloud and data center company IDC Frontier, which operates a number of facilities in the country, including the 50MW Tokyo Fuchu Data Center, which can support about 4,000 server racks. The telco also owns the Internet exchange BBIX and dark fiber company BB Backbone.
“As we enter an era where society coexists with AI, the demand for data processing and electricity requirements will rapidly increase. SoftBank will provide next-generation social infrastructure to support the super-digitalized society in Japan,” Junichi Miyakawa, president and CEO of SoftBank Corp, said.
“Our collaboration with Nvidia will help our infrastructure achieve a significantly higher performance with the utilization of AI, including optimization of the RAN. We expect it can also help us reduce energy consumption and create a network of interconnected data centers that can be used to share resources and host a range of generative AI applications.”
DigitalBridge partners with PIF to develop data centres in Saudi Arabia
Global asset manager, DigitalBridge, has teamed up with the Public Investment Fund to develop data centres in Saudi Arabia and across the Gulf Cooperation Council.
It is hoped that the partnership will support the growth of the digital economy in Saudi Arabia and the GCC Region.
The partnership will initially prioritise investments in the data centre sector, and is expected to explore other segments of digital infrastructure in the future, including macro towers, fiber, small cell, and edge infrastructure. The partnership between DigitalBridge and PIF will support the enhancement of digital infrastructure in Saudi Arabia.
Keppel DC REIT triggers countdown as new CEO takes the helm in 8 weeks
Keppel DC REIT Management Pte. Ltd., as Manager of Keppel DC REIT, said that Mr Loh Hwee Long (罗慧隆), 46, will be appointed Chief Executive Officer, with effect from 28 July 2023, subject to regulatory approval as required under the Securities and Futures Act, 2001 of Singapore.
Former CEO, Ms Anthea Lee (李明芬) will be leaving the Manager to pursue other interests, with effect from 28 July 2023.
Mr Loh has served with Keppel for more than ten years and is currently the Chief Investment Officer (CIO) overseeing data centre investments.
He will cease from CIO duties when he takes over as the CEO of the Manager.
Before his career with Keppel, he held senior positions overseeing investments in student housing and new market development at Mapletree Investments, as well as real estate investment at GIC Real Estate.
Macquarie’s Netrality invest in Texas data centre footprint
Privately-held hosting company Netrality Data Centers has invested in further expansion within Southern United States with the addition of extra capacity in Texas.
The Macquarie Asset Management-backed operator has added to two new data halls encompassing 17,000 square feet and over 2.5 megawatts of critical capacity to its pipeline.
The new data halls in Houston are due to be coming online at the end of summer 2023.
At 24 stories and approximately 1 million square feet, 1301 Fannin is one of Houston’s most fibre-dense network-neutral facilities and a central hub for data and Internet traffic.
Gerald M. Marshall, President and CEO at Netrality Data Centers, said: “This expansion represents a strategic investment in supporting the growth of Houston’s vibrant business community.
STT GDC to invest $242m in two data centers in Pune, India
The company is planning to invest Rs 2,000 crore ($241.9m) in the development which will bring an additional 40MW to the campus, for a total capacity of 80MW spread over five buildings.
The new data centers “are expected to go live over the next 12 to 24 months in phases. We also have plans for adding more capacity in future as per the market demand,” Sumit Mukhija, CEO, STT GDC India, told the Economic Times.
Mukhija claims that STT GDC’s Pune campus is the only one in the country with 100MVA power coming into a 220kV substation. According to Mukhija, the campus can be scaled up to 200MVA and 140MW of IT capacity.
The land for the campus is leased from Tata Communications. STT GDC acquired a 74 percent stake in Tata’s data center business in India and Singapore in 2016 and the remaining 26 percent in 2019.
CtrlS to invest $18.1m in Odisha, India data center
CtrlS Datacenters is investing Rs 150 crore ($18.1m) in a greenfield Edge data center in the Indian state of Odisha.
The company commenced construction on the data center in the state’s capital city Bhubaneswar yesterday (May 30). The planned investment will occur in phases over the next 10 years and is hoped to generate around 110 jobs for the city of Bhubaneswar.
Long term, CtrlS plans to expand the site into a hyperscale data center campus spanning over 10 acres. This first facility will be named CtrlS Bhubaneswar 1 and offer a capacity of 5MW.
Sridhar Pinnapureddy, chairman of CtrlS, said: “The State of Odisha is a fast-growing region in India, making it a strategic destination for CtrlS’ ongoing expansion. We are excited to bring our expertise to the State. Built in Infocity, Chandrasekharpur, the data center will be easily accessible to both the city center, and its airport. The Infocity site is an innovation hub and home to a broad community of emerging technologies. CtrlS Bhubaneswar 1 will be embedded into a larger ecosystem, enabling the growth of data and infrastructure-savvy businesses around the facility.”
1.8 million sq ft data center park proposed on RV site in Gainesville, Virginia
First reported by the Prince William Times, a developer has filed plans for an 82-acre data center campus on the site of the Hillwood Camping Park in Gainesville.
The ‘Gardner Property’ development could see up to 1.8 million sq ft of data centers developed on the site – currently made up of 14 parcels between Routes 29 and 55 at the intersection of Nolan Drive, Gardner Manor Place, and McGraws Corner Drive – as well as an on-site substation. The number of buildings and planned power capacity of the site aren’t clear.
The Hillwood property is currently a residential recreational vehicle (RV) community, with some 140 trailers on-site across 15 acres. InsideNoVa reports most of the properties are currently owned by a variety of private companies, individuals, and land trusts, mostly associated with the Charles V. Gardner Estate.
The park is reportedly under contract to Delaware Land LLC, owned by landowner and CEO of JK Moving Services, Chuck Kuhn. Kuhn is also affiliated with JK Land Holdings LLC.
Data center company Kio to double its capacity by 2025
Mexican data center firm Kio is planning to double its data center capacity over the next two years, reports Reuters.
“Our growth plan involves creating over the next two years the same capacity we have accumulated in the last 22 years. It will be a significant investment,” said Kio chief executive officer, Jorge Sapien.
The expansion will see Kio developing data centers in Panama, Guatemala, Colombia, and Spain. The company commenced construction on a new data center in the latter earlier this year, planning a 1,000 sqm facility in Paterna, Spain.
Sapien noted that, up till now, the adoption of data centers in Mexico and Latin America has been slow due to companies’ apprehension towards outsourcing data hosting.