Metro Phoenix has emerged as a world leader in the high-tech field of data centers.
More companies are locating facilities to house computers, servers and other equipment around the Valley, especially in outlying areas such as Mesa, Chandler and Goodyear, according to a new report from commercial real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield. .
Virginia ranks No. 1 in the world, followed by Atlanta, Tokyo, Dallas and London, with metro Phoenix in sixth place.
Virginia, which is close to the nation’s capital, “remains the world’s largest market, but is experiencing significant growth in the next tier of markets,” the report said. “Dallas, Chicago, Phoenix, and Atlanta have all added significant capacity in the past year.”
Metro Phoenix has more data centers coming online and ranks fifth in the world in terms of development pipeline. “In the case of Phoenix, recently announced developments take the market alone to well over 1 GW,” the report added.
Meta Platforms, the parent company of Google and Facebook, is one of the companies operating or developing Valley data centers.
There is a large area of land around the valley.
But the factor that really pushes Phoenix up in the rankings is the availability of land, making it a major metropolitan city, as opposed to space-constrained locations such as Singapore, Greater New York, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, and California’s Silicon Valley. Ken took first place. Continuing and anticipated computing needs, including artificial intelligence, are forcing many data center operators to lock themselves into larger spaces.
Metro Phoenix also ranks 10th overall in terms of market size. Larger markets tend to have easier access to things like cloud computing services, local talent, public services, and knowledgeable local government planners.
In creating the global rankings, the report gave the most weight to power availability, land availability, and market size. Secondary factors range from land prices, regulations, fiber connections, and power costs to environmental risks, taxes, and water availability.
A previous Cushman & Wakefield report focused on U.S. data centers ranked metro Phoenix second behind Virginia and ahead of Atlanta and Dallas. It wasn’t clear why the new world report placed Phoenix below Atlanta and Dallas. The company did not respond to inquiries regarding this matter.
Data centers are not completely profitable
The report notes that while data centers reflect the region’s high-tech industrial hub, they are not necessarily universally welcomed. For example, in addition to water and power demands that can strain local infrastructure, these facilities tend not to employ as many people, typically around 10 to 50 people per location. of technicians, engineers, and security staff.
The report cites “real or perceived resistance that data centers may not provide the economic improvement in the form of jobs and taxes that communities desire.”
Contact the author at russ.wiles@arizonarepublic.com.
