Planning officials have recommended two data center projects for approval in Mesa, Arizona.
As reported by Bizjournal, the Mesa Planning and Zoning Commission last week recommended approval for two data center projects in the Phoenix suburb, located in Maricopa County.
The commission voted in favor of a general plan amendment and rezoning for both the Pacific Proving Technology Campus and CyrusOne's data center campus. The former passed unanimously, while the latter passed 4-3.
CyrusOne gets the thumbs up, just
CyrusOne filed to develop a new campus on 62 acres on the corner of Elliot and Ellsworth Roads late last year.
It aims to develop up to five two-story buildings, spanning 286,530 square feet (26,620 sqm) each, for a total of around 1.4 million sq ft (130,000 sqm).
CyrusOne acquired the land from Sunbelt Investment Holdings Inc. in 2018 for $19.3 million, according to Maricopa County records.
The company currently operates an 85-acre data center campus in Chandler, around 20 miles to the south of Mesa. It broke ground and launched its first building there in 2012. Today, the campus comprises eight data centers totaling around 2.1 million sq ft (195,100 sqm) and 81MW.
The commission was the decision-making body for CyrusOne's data center campus, meaning it will not be heard by the Mesa City Council.
Pacific Proving proves a winner
Pacific Proving proposed a 178-acre campus north of Pecos Road and east of Ellsworth Road around the same time as CyrusOne.
To be located east of Legacy Park, the campus will house six data centers containing 32 data halls totaling 1.4 million square feet. The site will reportedly offer 360MW.
One of the largest landowners in southeast Mesa, Pacific Proving bought the southern 1,800 acres of the former GM proving grounds in 2004.
Opened in 1953, the former GM Desert Proving Ground in Mesa was a General Motors facility for the testing of HVAC, propulsion, and other automotive systems in a desert climate. GM relocated to Yuma in 2009.
Local businessman William Levine acquired the 1,800-acre site in 2004 through Pacific Proving for $45 million. Part of the proving grounds was turned into the Legacy Industrial Park.
The project will now advance to Mesa City Council for a final decision.
Phoenix is a major data center hub, with the Mesa area home to Polish software firm Comarch as well as EdgeCore, Meta, Novva, Apple, CyrusOne, and NTT. Amazon is planning two campuses in Mesa, while landowner Pacific Proving is also planning to develop a large campus in the area.
Across the rest of Phoenix, the likes of Stack, Stream, Prime, Aligned, Iron Mountain, Vantage, Compass, QTS, EdgeConneX, Expedient, and H5 are all present. Microsoft operates a cloud region out of the area.
