BEDINGTON, W.VA. — Penzance plans to develop a $4 billion data center campus in Bedington, a city in Berkeley County on the east side of West Virginia. The 600-megawatt (MW) hyperscale campus will be situated on 548 acres and will span 1.9 million square feet at full build-out, with the ability to scale further to meet future demand. Penzance made the announcement last week in the West Virginia State Capitol with Gov. Patrick Morrisey and other state and local government staffers. The Berkeley County site marks the first high-impact data center project approved under West Virginia’s House Bill 2014. Penzance plans to begin construction before the end of the year, with delivery of the first megawatts of capacity targeted for the end of 2028. In addition to the Bedington project, Penzance recently broke ground on a 45 MW, 240,000-square-foot data center in Chantilly, Va.
ASHBURN, VA. — The George Washington University (GW) has sold the Viginia Science and Technology Campus (VSTC) in Ashburn, about 30 miles northwest of Washington, D.C. Amazon Data Services, a subsidiary of Amazon Web Services, purchased the property for $427 million, according to local media reports. Amazon plans to develop the 122-acre site into a data center, according to The GW Hatchet, the university’s student newspaper. Ashburn is situated in Loudoun County, which is dubbed locally as “data center alley.” The transaction agreement ensures that the university has the option to keep programs at VSTC for up to five years. Launched in 1991, VSTC supports research in engineering, physics and chemistry and is home to both academic programs and administrative services. GW’s School of Nursing, the Earthquake Engineering and Structures Laboratory and the Avenir Foundation Conservation and Collections Resource Center are all housed on the campus. “As stewards of the university’s mission, we must continually assess how best to use our resources in service of our community and future generations of GW revolutionaries,” wrote Ellen Granberg, president of GW, in a letter regarding the sale. “This includes our real estate portfolio, a critical asset that supports our academic mission, the …
IRVING, TEXAS — Data center owner-operator Edged U.S. will open a new facility at its Irving campus. The square footage of the new building was not announced, but the facility, which will be known as Edged Dallas 2, will be located along North Wildwood Drive and will have a power capacity of 24 megawatts. Construction is scheduled to begin during the second quarter and to be complete in fall 2027. The first data center at the Edged Dallas campus opened in January 2025.
By David Steinbach, JLL As artificial intelligence (AI) acceleration, cloud expansion and high-performance computing reshape the digital economy, cities across the U.S. are reevaluating whether they can meaningfully compete for data center investment. St. Louis is increasingly part of that national conversation — and the reasons are structural, not speculative. With competitive power pricing, repurposable industrial infrastructure, developable land and a strengthening policy framework, the region is positioned to capture the next wave of large-scale digital infrastructure. This moment represents more than a real estate opportunity. It’s an inflection point that could redefine the region’s industrial future if public and private stakeholders act in alignment. Cost, infrastructure profile Data center site selection begins with power and connectivity, and St. Louis offers meaningful advantages on both. Missouri’s industrial electricity rates continue to trend below the national average, with the state at 7.69 cents per kilowatt-hour compared with the U.S. industrial average of 8.65 cents per kilowatt-hour, according to the latest EIA data. This is a significant differentiator for large-scale campuses with substantial, long-duration energy needs. The region’s legacy industrial and former generation sites also come with high capacity transmission infrastructure that can be repurposed, reducing both development timelines and the cost …
HICKORY, N.C. — Corning Inc. has announced plans to develop a new optical cable manufacturing facility in Hickory, about 58 miles northwest of Charlotte. The new plant is part of the New York-based tech manufacturing firm’s multi-year, up to $6 billion agreement with Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of Facebook and Instagram. Meta will serve as the anchor client of the manufacturing facility. The agreement will help accelerate the build-out of advanced data centers to support Meta’s various apps and technologies, including its Llama AI platform. Under the agreement, Corning will supply Meta with “its newest innovations in optical fiber, cable and connectivity solutions.” The new factory and increased investment in Corning’s existing North Carolina footprint are expected to create 5,000 new jobs, including scientists, engineers and production teams. The initiative is expected to increase Corning’s employment in North Carolina by 15 to 20 percent. Back in October, Corning acquired 32.9 acres in Trivium Corporate Center, a 378-acre business park in Hickory, and agreed to invest $170 million to $267.9 million and create 132 jobs at the park.
KANSAS CITY, MO. — Patmos Holdings Inc., a provider of internet infrastructure, data center and hosting services, has received a $100 million C-PACE (Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy) loan from PACE Loan Group for the ongoing redevelopment of the former Kansas City Star building into a data center and artificial intelligence (AI) campus. When the next phase of infrastructure upgrades is complete this spring, the 421,112-square-foot, four-story Patmos AI Campus will feature 35 megawatts of power. The C-PACE loan will fund energy-efficient infrastructure improvements. Patmos initially started construction in late 2024. Since then, two publicly traded tenants have inked multi-year leases with Patmos. Located at 1601 McGee St. in downtown Kansas City on the site that had been previously declined by the Kansas City Royals for its new stadium, the 5-acre campus is part of a significant retrofit project. In addition to creating AI data halls, Patmos will also convert nearly 150,000 square feet of the building into a multi-tenant technology hub, coworking and event space. The C-PACE proceeds will be used for energy efficiency, equipment, HVAC and plumbing improvements to support the data center’s cooling and electrical load. The project is slated for completion in March. Rafi Golberstein of …
CASTROVILLE, TEXAS — Microsoft plans to open a $400 million data center in Castroville, about 25 miles west of San Antonio, according to reports from multiple news outlets including Data Center Dynamics and My San Antonio. According to the latter publication, which cited a filing with the Texas Department of Licensing & Regulation, the facility will be known as SAT 82 and will span approximately 195,000 square feet. My San Antonio also reported that construction is scheduled to begin in August and to last about two years. In addition, Data Center Dynamics reports that Microsoft has other data center projects in the works in Castroville.
TOKYO AND BOCA RATON, FLA. — SoftBank Group Corp. has agreed to acquire DigitalBridge, a global asset manager based in Boca Raton that invests in data centers, cell towers and fiber networks. The Tokyo-based investment firm is looking to grow its AI and digital infrastructure platforms and capabilities with this acquisition. SoftBank has agreed to indirectly acquire all outstanding shares of DigitalBridge (NYSE: DBRG) for $16 per share, giving the acquisition a total enterprise value of approximately $4 billion. The acquisition price is a 50 percent premium to the unaffected 52-week average closing price as of Dec. 4, 2025. Upon completion of the transaction, which is expected for the second half of the year, DigitalBridge will continue to operate as a separately managed platform led by Marc Ganzi. The board of directors at DigitalBridge has unanimously approved the transaction.
As 2025 closes, data suggests that the greater metropolitan Washington, D.C., area is stable but, like most markets nationally, remains below the industrial peak values achieved post-pandemic when vacancy rates hovered below 5 percent. That is no surprise, as we may never experience another “perfect storm” scenario in our lifetimes. The overall market for industrial buildings 100,000 square feet and larger is a healthy 6.3 percent, inclusive of data centers. A significant percentage of vacancy is masked by the build-out of data centers in Northern Virginia because, removing this asset class, the vacancy increases to approximately 9.1 percent. The number increases closer to 10 percent when we focus more specifically on logistics spaces, according to data from CoStar Group. Confidence remains strong for leasing activity in larger Class A industrial buildings, but the underlying economic fundamentals, uncertainty in tariff policy and geopolitical instability could lead to a continued trend of higher vacancy rates in the future. Consumer spending underpins the economy and is increasingly dependent on wealthier households who account for the majority of spending. Low- and middle-income households have continued to be squeezed by the rising costs of food, fuel and housing, which impacts the demand for shipped, manufactured …
The Richmond industrial market has been undergoing a dramatic transformation that reads like a case study in strategic positioning and timing. Over the past decade, this “regional market” has become a U.S. powerhouse, boasting all the ingredients to attract, maintain and organically grow supply-chain focused global occupiers and institutional capital investment. Richmond’s strategic advantages include its prime location on I-95 — equidistant to both metropolitan D.C. and the Port of Virginia — attractive labor demographics, disciplined development and strong demand from Fortune 100 occupiers. Additionally, the surging data center hyperscalers and their suppliers have further catalyzed growth in the market. The result? Richmond now features one of the lowest U.S. vacancy rates, sustained year-over-year rent growth, a feeding frenzy of institutional capital routinely producing 10 to 15 bids and lender quotes per property that have fundamentally reshaped who owns, develops and finances industrial real estate in the market. From regional player to national stage Over the past decade, Richmond experienced a 68 percent increase in institutional investors and lenders, growing from 47 participants in 2015 to nearly 80 unique institutions that have invested in and loaned on Richmond industrial assets, with 50 cents of every dollar invested in Richmond coming from …
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