Cologix has pre-leased a new 120-megawatt data center in the center of Data Center Alley in Ashburn, Virginia, the company said today. The three-story, 455,000 square foot building Scalelogix ASH1 facility is one of the largest single data centers in North America, said Cologix.
The tenant is described as a "major global technology company" and began operations at the site in May.
The deal is one of the largest single-building leases in memory, and illustrates the extraordinary demand for new data center capacity in Ashburn, the focal point for Internet connectivity in the massive cloud cluster in Northern Virginia.
Scalelogix ASH1 was built on one of the world's most desirable pieces of cloud real estate. The Cologix campus is the former site of the Christian Fellowship Church on Beaumeade Circle, and sits next to the world’s largest Internet intersection, adjacent to campuses for Equinix, Digital Realty and Amazon Web Services.
The new Ashburn campus is a key component in Cologix's strategic shift to larger hyperscale campuses. The company's Scalelogix strategy was enabled by a $3 billion recapitalization in December 2021, which brought in new investors and used an asset-backed securitization to reduce the company’s borrowing costs.
“We’re aggressively expanding our hyperscale edge portfolio across North America in response to growing demand from major global cloud providers and large digital enterprises,” said Cologix Chief Revenue Officer Chris Heinrich. “With their massive scale and top-tier performance, our Scalelogix data centers provide high-speed, ultra-low latency and highly secure access to fixed, 5G and public cloud networks that today’s businesses require for success.”
Cologix bought the land in 2018, and announced a groundbreaking in 2020, but didn't begin active development until late 2022. But once Cologix began construction, the building was delivered in just seven months from permitting to commissioning.
“Many positive factors contributed to the project’s successful and efficient timeline, including transparent partnerships and communications with all parties involved every step of the way,” said Cologix Chief Development Officer Nathan Hazelwood. “I am so proud and appreciative of the entire Cologix team and our invaluable partners and vendors, as we’ve built a superior facility that will provide exceptional capabilities for our customers doing business at the digital edge.”
ASH1 is the first Cologix project built using Modular Electrical Rooms (MERs), prefabricated modular assemblies filled with electrical infrastructure that can be rapidly deployed at a data center facility. The facility also features a high efficiency, closed-loop cooling system, and a hot-aisle containment design allowing up to 35 cabinets per row.
But the real story of the new site is connectivity, as it sites next door to the Equinix campus that serves as the world's largest network intersection. The data center includes highly-connected Ashburn Meet-Me-Rooms (MMRs) and is part of Cologix’s robust interconnection ecosystem of more than 700 network providers.
DCF asked Cologix if the 120 megawatts is available now or if it will be deployed in phases, but we have not had a response as yet.
Cologix' purchase of the land also worked out well for the Christian Fellowship Church, which used the proceeds of the sale to build a new $25 million worship center near the One Loudoun mixed-use community.
ASH1 is one of three new Scalelogix data centers to be launched by Cologix in the next year, including facilities planned in Columbus, Ohio and Montrèal, Canada.
