Facebook (Meta Platforms), through the entity Velvet Tech Services LLC, announced that it will be constructing a new hyperscale data center campus in Kansas City, Missouri. Initially, Meta anticipates that this data center campus will span nearly 1 million sqft and will represent an investment of $800m+. In terms of timing, Meta plans to be operational in Kansas City in 2024.
Subsequently, the company has the ability to continue scaling the data center campus (see below), as it has done elsewhere in the United States and Europe.
Facebook (Meta) Data Center – Kansas City, Missouri
Facebook (Meta) is developing a 375-acre site, with the main parcel having an address of 801 NW 128th Street in Kansas City, Missouri. Specifically, the land plot is situated in Zone 3 of the Golden Plains Technology Park, at the northwest corner of Interstate 435 (I-435) and U.S. Route 169, with its northern boundary being NW 128th Street.
Golden Plains Technology Park
Meta’s new data center will occupy Zone 3, the northernmost zone, out of the three total zones in the 882-acre Golden Plains Technology Park. Notably, this land parcel resides within both Platte County and Clay County, Missouri – as defined by the red line below.
Overall, the Golden Plains Technology Park markets itself towards data center campus developments that can host hyperscale and colocation data center tenants.
The broader park is controlled by Diode Ventures, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Black & Veatch, which is a Kansas-headquartered engineering, procurement, construction, and consulting company.
Development Plan
Facebook (Meta) has a final master planned development site plan, which has been approved by the City Council of Kansas City, Missouri, to develop the following:
- Data Centers: three identical data center buildings, which each comprise 602k sqft
- Utility Substation: operated by Evergy, an electric utility company, and located on the western portion of the site, within a 7-acre lot
- Accessory Structures: 50k sqft building next to the campus entrance off of NW 128th Street, amongst others
Therefore, as shown below, the campus has the ability to scale to a total of over 1.8 million sqft at full build-out. To this end, Matt Kist of Kimley-Horn, a planning and design engineering consultancy, which is representing Meta, referenced the broader build-out in a City Plan Commission hearing, stating “this project is going to take a total of roughly ten years to build-out”.
Site Plan Layout
Economic Development
During the data center’s development, Facebook (Meta) anticipates that 1.3k+ construction workers will temporarily be on-site at the peak of construction. Subsequently, the operational data center will support up to 100 permanent jobs, such as operations, maintenance, and security roles.
Power and Sustainability
Facebook (Meta) is partnering with Evergy, an electric utility company, to supply the future data center campus with power. Additionally, Meta and Evergy have developed a new market-based tariff that will allow both Meta and other customers to contract for new renewable energy.
To this end, Meta states that its data center campus will be supported by 100% renewable energy (i.e., solar and wind power). Further, the data center will be at least 80% more water-efficient than the average data center. To meet this goal, Meta’s facilities will utilize water sipping cooling systems, which rely on outside air for cooling, for at least 50% of the year. In turn, this reduces the data center’s need for water to cool its equipment.
Rationale of Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri possesses a number of important features which make for an attractive market for Meta’s new hyperscale data center campus, including:
- Infrastructure: good access to power and water infrastructure
- Fiber Connectivity: Kansas City has more than 5.5 million miles of fiber deployed. Additionally, Missouri’s central location in the U.S. can improve network connectivity between data centers on the east and west coast of the U.S.
- Natural Disasters: less risk
- Energy: competitive prices
- Labor: talent pool for both construction and operations
Facebook (Meta Platforms) – Data Centers
Facebook (Meta) designs, builds, owns, and operates its own data centers. With the company’s recent announcements of new data center development projects in Boise (Kuna), Idaho; Madrid (Castilla-La Mancha), Spain; and this disclosure in Kansas City, Missouri, the company will increase its presence to 21 data center campuses worldwide. Of this total portfolio, 16 will be located in the United States, 4 in Europe, and 1 in Asia.
