Key Takeaways
- Sector: Digital Infrastructure, Real Estate.
- Geography: United States, Georgia.
Analysis
DataBank is advancing plans for a substantial new data center campus in Cartersville, Georgia, signaling continued expansion in the Southeast's rapidly growing digital infrastructure sector. The company has submitted a Development of Regional Impact application to the Georgia Department of Community Affairs for a project designated as 'Project Indo.' This initiative aims to establish a significant 200MW facility on a 69-acre site located at 218 Industrial Park Road, northwest of Atlanta.
The proposed Cartersville campus, upon full build-out, represents a potential investment of approximately $2.4 billion. This development underscores the increasing demand for high-capacity data processing and storage, particularly driven by advancements in artificial intelligence and cloud computing. The site's proximity to an existing substation is a key strategic advantage, facilitating the substantial power requirements of such a large-scale operation. DataBank is seeking a grid connection of 288MW to support the campus's ambitious power needs.
This new Georgia venture would significantly augment DataBank's existing presence in the Atlanta metropolitan area. Currently, the operator manages 177MW across six facilities totaling over 750,000 square feet in the region. The Cartersville site, while further from the city center, is positioned to become DataBank's largest footprint in the Atlanta vicinity, reflecting a strategic shift towards larger, more scalable campuses to meet future demand.
The Atlanta region has transitioned from a Tier 2 market to a critical hub for data center development. Over the past few years, numerous proposals for data center campuses, collectively spanning tens of millions of square feet, have been filed across Georgia. While many projects concentrate in traditional areas, the Cartersville initiative highlights the expanding geographic reach of data center development within the state, driven by the need for power, land, and connectivity.
The initial phase of Project Indo is slated for a potential launch in 2032, indicating a long-term development strategy. The land is currently owned by Colloid Environmental Technologies Company (CETCO), a firm specializing in construction materials, with an existing manufacturing presence on the property. This acquisition and development plan are part of a broader trend of hyperscale cloud providers and colocation operators securing large tracts of land to build out massive compute infrastructure.
DataBank, founded in 2005, operates a network of over 65 data centers across 25 major metropolitan markets in the United States. The company's strategic expansion into Cartersville aligns with industry forecasts predicting continued robust growth in the data center sector, fueled by the insatiable appetite for digital services and the ongoing digital transformation across all industries. The scale of this project positions DataBank to capture a significant share of the projected market growth in the coming decade.