US firm Switch Inc. is planning to expand its data center footprint in Austin, Texas.
First reported by BizJournal, Switch has applied to build a new data center at its 4100 Smith School Road campus in Southeast Austin.
The company reportedly intends to build a 300,000-square-foot (27,870 sqm) data center alongside a new Austin Energy substation, according to site plans filed with the city. Switch declined to comment to BJ.
Switch took over the campus as part of its $420 million acquisition of Data Foundry in 2021. The company also took over another data center in Austin and a facility in Houston.
The Smith School Road campus, known by Data Foundry as the Data Ranch, currently features two buildings. Launched in 2011, Texas 1 offers 24MW across 130,000 sq ft (12,080 sqm); while Texas 2, opened in 2018, offers 36MW across 325,000 sq ft (30,195 sqm).
Formerly known as Texas.net, Data Foundry’s first data center, at Digital Realty’s 7401 E Ben White Blvd in Austin, opened in 2003.
Switch is also developing its ‘Rock Campus’ in the Round Rock area of Austin, some 25 miles north of the Data Ranch site.
First announced in 2021, Switch's 'The Rock' will span more than 1.5 million square feet (140,000 sqm). First approved by the local council in July 2021, the company recently filed to expand it further. The campus is on land adjacent to a number of Dell-owned facilities.
DigitalBridge-owned Switch also operates its other large 'Prime' data center campuses in Reno, Las Vegas; Grand Rapids, Michigan; and Atlanta, Georgia. The company recently filed for a second Atlanta campus known as the Keep 2.
