Apple Progresses $1.3bn, 2 Million sqft Iowa Data Center Campus

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), via a project named Morgan, received approval from the Planning & Zoning Commission of Waukee, Iowa to build the first phase, comprising ~400k sqft, of a data center campus located 18 miles west of Des Moines, the capital city of Iowa. Ultimately, Apple plans to build a total of 6 data centers spanning nearly 2 million sqft, at this location.

When Apple first announced the project, ~4.5 years ago in August 2017, the development involved a total investment of $1.375bn.

Apple – Waukee (Des Moines), Iowa – Data Center Campus

Apple’s Des Moines data center development project is located at 2995 W. Hickman Road in the northwest section of the city of Waukee, Iowa. Specifically, the property is situated north of Hickman Road, between S Avenue and T Avenue.

Apple received approval to develop one lot, comprising ~592 acres of land, which represents only a portion of the property that the company owns in the northwest of Waukee, Iowa. Indeed, Apple controls over 2,000 acres, between T Avenue, R-16, 280th Street, and 300th Street.

Phase 1

Apple’s site plan for the first phase of its Waukee, Iowa data center project involves the construction of a number of buildings, including a data center facility, as well as office & administration, maintenance, and network distribution buildings. Collectively, these buildings comprise 398.5k sqft, of which, the data center represents 315.8k sqft, as shown below:

In terms of timing, Apple will begin construction on the first phase of its Iowa data center campus during 2022.

Future Phases

Subsequently, Apple will develop the remainder of its land as future data center phases. However, these forthcoming build-outs will require additional site plan approvals from the Planning & Zoning Commission of Waukee, Iowa.

As shown above, Apple’s site plan identifies a further 5 buildings, for a total of 6 data centers, to be built on the land. Particularly, these data centers, labelled as WKE.02, WKE.03, WKE.04, WKE.05, and WKE.06 will be equal in size to Apple’s first, WKE.01, building.

Assuming, all 6 data centers were built-out, Apple’s campus would span nearly 2 million sqft in total, including ancillary buildings:

Presently, Apple has not disclosed a timeline as to when the remaining data center buildings will be constructed.

READ MORE: Apple’s Data Center Locations

Power

MidAmerican Energy, an electric utility company owned by Berkshire Hathaway, will construct a substation to supply the future data center campus with utility power. Specifically, this substation will be located in the center of the property, on the east side.