With the rapid growth of physical data center infrastructure, it’s no surprise that a niche market has emerged for companies specializing in land acquisition. Reports of massive property purchases by firms planning new facilities appear almost daily—and so do accounts of the challenges developers face before the first shovel hits the ground. As parcel sizes grow and power and water demands intensify, the complexities of acquiring and preparing these sites have only increased.
Tract is a leader in this space. The Denver-based company develops master-planned data center parks, with more than 25,000 acres of potential sites under its control and plans to support over 25 GW of workload capacity. To put that into perspective, 25,000 acres is roughly 40 square miles—about two-thirds the land area of Washington, D.C., or, for European readers, two-thirds the size of Liechtenstein.
Building Shovel-Ready Megasites
Rather than waiting for developers to come knocking, Tract takes a proactive approach, built on the core belief that the future of data center growth lies in pre-entitled, zoned, and infrastructure-ready megasites. The company works years in advance to deliver shovel-ready campuses with reliable energy, fiber connectivity, and municipal cooperation already in place.
Its model emphasizes strategic land aggregation in high-growth regions, the cultivation of long-term relationships with utilities and governments, and master planning for power, cooling, transportation, and sustainability. This integrated approach positions Tract to deliver both speed and certainty to hyperscale project developers—at scale.
Tract’s leadership team brings deep industry experience. Founder and Executive Chairman Grant van Rooyen previously led acquisitions and expansions at Cologix and Teraco. President Matt Spencer brings more than 35 years of telecom and infrastructure leadership, while Chief Energy Officer Nat Sahlstrom, former head of Amazon’s global energy, water, and sustainability teams, helped make Amazon the world’s largest buyer of renewable energy. Backed by major institutional investors—including Berkshire Partners, PSP Partners, Permira, S2G Ventures, and Columbia Capital—Tract is well positioned to capitalize on the industry’s rapid growth.
Significant Projects Underway
In January, DCF reported on the launch of Tract Fleet Data Centers, a platform designed to deliver build-to-suit, multi-hundred-megawatt campuses for hyperscale clients. Tract sees this as the next evolution of hyperscale outsourcing—where the developer not only secures the land but also pre-builds the energy and cooling infrastructure before the cloud provider ever steps on site.
With zoning, utility infrastructure, and power availability in place from day one, Tract believes it has found a winning formula to attract next-generation hyperscale development.
Buckeye, Arizona: One of the Nation’s Largest Data Center Land Deals
In August 2024, Tract closed on a 2,069-acre property in Buckeye, Arizona—one of the largest single data center land acquisitions in the United States. The master plan calls for up to 20 million square feet of data center space across 40 facilities. The site comprises 22 parcels, ranging from 40 to 242 acres each, all with existing by-right permissions for data center use.
The project is envisioned as a multi-phase buildout over as many as 15 years, supporting nearly 2,000 construction jobs at peak activity. Tract is collaborating with local utilities to deliver 1.8 GW of power infrastructure to the site.
The location sits near the Palo Verde Generating Station, the largest nuclear power plant in the United States by net generation. Its three 1,400 MWe units have been in operation since 1986. Plant operator Arizona Public Service has received a 20-year license extension for each unit—through 2045 for Unit 1, 2046 for Unit 2, and 2047 for Unit 3—and has the option to seek further extensions to extend operations beyond those dates.
