EdgeConneX proposes multi-phase data center campus in Mesa

EdgeConneX proposes multi-phase data center campus in Mesa

By Ron Davis

Global data center firm EdgeConneX is looking to build a large data center campus in east Mesa.
The Virginia-based company recently filed separate project applications through Mesa's administrative review and design review to build a multi-phased campus near Elliot Road and Loop 202. EdgeConneX would build the campus through three proposed data hall buildings and one electrical substation on about 93 acres within Mesa's Elliot Road Technology Corridor.
If fully built, those three buildings would total more than 1 million square feet.

The first phase of the EdgeConneX project would include a 180,000-square-foot data hall, more than 50,000 square feet of administrative space with two electrical power blocks. The second phase would add onto the building with a mirroring 180,000-square-foot data hall. Second and third buildings that total 301,072 and 481,017 gross square feet make up the third and final phase, according to a project narrative submitted with EdgeConneX's application.

Those data centers would be "designed for a range of clients from colocation to single-client tenants."

The proposed data center would further solidify the Phoenix metro as a major player in the U.S. data center industry, which saw record leasing from hyperscale, financial firms, health care and other major corporate tenants in the first part of 2023. That has made it harder for smaller data center tenants to find space.

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EdgeConneX, through architecture firm HKS Inc., submitted applications for its data center campus earlier this month. Those applications are "in review" as of Aug. 31.

The company could not be immediately reached for comment.

Under the entity Loop 202 & Elliot Road LLC, EdgeConneX owns eight parcels of right next to one another at the site of its proposed project. The company has owned those parcels since 2017, according to the Maricopa County Assessor's office.

EdgeConneX already has a presence within the Phoenix metro as it operates a data center in Tempe, which is called PHX01 and located near U.S. 60 and Southern Avenue, according to its website.

Earlier this week, Utah-based Novva Data Centers made a big purchase at the Arizona State Land Department auction, spending $62.7 million for 165 acres of Mesa land located just southeast of EdgeConneX's proposed site. Though the plans have not been finalized, Novva will attempt a design-build and operate water-free, air-cooling data centers on-site.

Major companies such as Apple and Meta Platforms Inc. have existing data centers in Mesa. Google started moving dirt last month on its $1 billion data center campus in southeast Mesa. That data center will power the company's tools like Search, Gmail, Maps and ongoing artificial intelligence innovation.

Shortly after Google started construction, Darien, Connecticut-based Edged Energy filed applications with Mesa's design review board and planning and zoning board to bring a 126,000-square-foot building on a 14-acre site. Just in the past month, EdgeCore Digital Infrastructure filed a similar application with Mesa to build three buildings, totaling 1.4 million square feet within the Eastmark master-planned community in late July.

Cushman & Wakefield recently reported that Phoenix was one of six key markets that accounted for 72% of total data center development in 2022 across the U.S. The other markets include Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, northern Virginia and Silicon Valley.