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Data Centres: Boom and Backlash
26MAY

Prime breaks ground on 240 MW Phoenix

2 min read
11:34UTC

Prime Data Centers broke ground on three of five buildings at a 240 MW Phoenix campus on 22 May, with three buildings pre-leased to an undisclosed hyperscaler, showing continued build momentum in Sun Belt markets.

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IndustryDeveloping
Key takeaway

Build momentum continues in Sun Belt jurisdictions with cleared planning consent and grid access.

Prime Data Centers broke ground on three of five buildings at a 240 MW campus in Phoenix, Arizona on 22 May, with the three buildings already pre-leased to an undisclosed hyperscaler. 1

The Phoenix start is a Sun Belt data point within the $110.75bn quarterly hyperscaler capex cycle . Pre-leased construction in a cleared-consent jurisdiction shows capital continuing to commit while Virginia's fiscal fight and the moratorium-exposed markets stall elsewhere. The contrast holds the topic's boom-and-backlash tension in a single fortnight: shovels in Arizona, cancellations in Southside Virginia.

Deep Analysis

In plain English

When a data-centre developer breaks ground on buildings that are already leased before a single wall is built, it means a major customer has signed a contract to occupy the space before construction finishes. This is called a pre-leased build, and it is how most large data centres now get financed. Phoenix benefits from Arizona's relatively permissive planning rules, access to large amounts of solar power at competitive prices, and grid-connection timelines of 18-24 months, far shorter than the multi-year queues operators face in Virginia or the PJM region. The 240 MW campus, when complete, will consume as much electricity as a city of roughly 200,000 homes.

What could happen next?
  • Opportunity

    Phoenix, Columbus, and other Sun Belt markets with cleared consent and sub-24-month grid connections are structurally positioned to absorb pipeline redirected from Virginia and moratorium-threatened cities.

Sources:Data Center Dynamics
Mentions:Sabey Data Centers →Virginia →Northern Virginia →Arizona →Loudoun County DC cluster →Prime Data Centers →Phoenix →
First Reported In

Update #4 · Grid wins power to switch off data centres

Data Center Dynamics· 26 May 2026
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