Phoenix Data Center Market Expands to Mesa and Goodyear

Last week we continued our special report series on the Phoenix data center market with a look at some of the key factors driving demand. This week we’ll look at some of the key trends driving supply in this hot data center market.

The exodus from California, lower price points in the Phoenix market, and the overall growth in digital infrastructure requirements has resulted in significant growth in the data center market in Phoenix.

Growing demand to support more infrastructure has helped propel the Phoenix market forward. This growth is evident in just how much bigger this market is poised to become. While current commissioned power is about 458MW, planned power for this market exceeds 1.63GW.

In recent years, the vast majority of data center investment in Phoenix landed in the suburbs of Mesa and Goodyear.

Today, there is about 2.6M SF of commissioned space. The planned space for greater Phoenix is over 8.8M SF.

There is about 33 MW (137,500 SF) of available space at the close of 1Q 2022, with another 42.5 MW (245,552 SF) currently under construction.

Two cities will continue to see growth opportunities in the Phoenix market. In recent years, the vast majority of data center investment in Phoenix landed in the suburbs of Mesa and Goodyear. Current projects for those markets include 461 MW planned in Goodyear and 732 MW planned in Mesa.

The city of Mesa has created a Planned Area Development Overlay Zone that “reduces entitlement risk and expedites the development process.”

Mesa, Arizona

The city of Mesa is home to an Apple data center in a large facility previously owned by Apple supplier GT Advanced Technologies. In addition to robust power infrastructure, the Elliot Road Technology Corridor has Foreign Trade Zone status, and the city of Mesa has created a Planned Area Development Overlay Zone that “reduces entitlement risk and expedites the development process.” The area also offers a recycled water loop. These steps have laid the groundwork for a robust data center district.

Here’s an overview of the projects in the pipeline:

• EdgeConneX purchased approximately 121 acres of land in Mesa to construct their second Phoenix data center. As of 4Q 2021, EdgeConneX was working through the permitting and designing of the facility, where they plan to offer up to 30 MW of commissioned power.
• EdgeCore’s Phoenix campus is located in Mesa, adjacent to Apple’s data center. EdgeCore will build seven data centers on the campus, totaling approximately 224 MW of commissioned power and 980,000 SF of commissioned space. Each 32 MW, 140,000 SF data center will be fed by an on-site substation and operate at a PUE of 1.25 or better.
• In 1Q 2018, EdgeCore broke ground on the first data center at their Mesa campus. The first data hall was delivered in 2Q 2019, with 4 MW of commissioned power available day-one.
• NTT purchased a 102-acre site in Mesa where they plan to construct a seven building, 1.5 million SF campus. In March 2022, the company opened its newest campus near Phoenix, completing the first phase of its Ph1 data center in Mesa.
• Meta said in May that it will add three more data centers to its Mesa campus, meaning it is now building five data centers at once, representing more than 2.5 million square feet of capacity.

Goodyear, Arizona

A similar data center district is poised to emerge to the West of Phoenix in Goodyear, which continues to build momentum around cloud and hyperscale projects.

• The largest projects in Goodyear are several data centers for Microsoft, which has acquired 420 acres of land to support two data centers, as well as 150 acres in nearby El Mirage. All three locations will be multi-phase developments.
• Compass acquired a 200-acre parcel of land in 2019 in Goodyear, where they plan to construct a multi-building campus with 260 MW at full build. Construction of the first two buildings on the campus began in 3Q 2019.
• Stack purchased a 79-acre parcel in Goodyear where they intend to construct a 1 million SF campus.
• Stream Data Centers purchased a 160-acre land site in Goodyear, where they will construct a 2 million SF data center campus. The site has an existing 418,000 SF building, which Stream will convert into a 50 MW data center. The company delivered the first 4.5 MW hall in 3Q 2020.
• Vantage Data Centers has purchased property in Goodyear, with plans for a 1 million SF campus.
• In 2020 Amazon Web Services bought 91 acres of land in Goodyear for a potential future data center.

Download the full report, Phoenix Data Center Market, courtesy of Digital Realty, to learn more about this competitive data center market. In our next article, we’ll explore the Phoenix business environment, including overviews of power, connectivity, tax incentives and hazard risks. Catch up on the previous articles here and here.