Staff Reports | Community Updates
Vermaland, LLC, a Phoenix-based land developer, has announced plans for a $33 billion data center industrial park that would become one of the largest such developments in the United States.
The proposed 3,300-acre complex is designed to support up to 3 gigawatts of power capacity, positioning the Phoenix-Tucson corridor to compete with Northern Virginia’s “Data Center Alley” for technology investment, according to a press release.
The announcement comes amid record levels of data center construction across North America, with more than 6.35 gigawatts of capacity under development as of late 2024, according to CBRE, a commercial real estate firm. Phoenix saw 67 percent inventory growth in 2024, trailing only Atlanta among major markets.
“This development positions Arizona to capture a meaningful share of the AI infrastructure boom,” said Kuldip (Ken) Verma, CEO of Vermaland. “With power costs significantly below California and growing tech company demand, we’re creating the next generation of digital infrastructure,” Mr. Verma said.
The site is located within a federally designated Qualified Opportunity Zone in the Phoenix-Tucson corridor, offering potential tax benefits for long-term capital investments. Opportunity Zone projects may provide up to 15 percent reductions in capital gains taxes for investments held 10 years or longer.
The development will incorporate a hybrid energy system that includes solar, natural gas, battery storage and grid connectivity. Vermaland’s broader portfolio includes 16 solar farm sites totaling more than 10,000 acres, projected to generate over 2 gigawatts of clean energy—enough to power approximately 400,000 homes.
The announcement aligns with increased investment in data center infrastructure to support artificial intelligence applications. Meta has announced plans to invest between $60 billion and $65 billion in 2025, primarily for AI and data center development. The federal government’s $500 billion Stargate initiative also aims to build 20 large AI data centers nationwide.
A separate 1,700-acre portion of Vermaland’s broader development has received Industrial-2 zoning approval for data centers, gas power plants, battery storage and solar installations. Additional properties are in various stages of planning.
In 2020, data centers in Arizona generated $539 million in economic output, supporting more than 2,500 jobs in construction and operations, according to Mangum Economics. The industry contributed at least $85 million in state and local tax revenue.
