Wal-Mart is Mystery Prospect in Colorado Springs

Retail giant Wal-Mart is the company contemplating a data center project in Colorado Springs, the company said Friday. Economic development officials in Colorado Springs had previously said an unnamed Fortune 100 company was considering Colorado Springs as the site of a $100 million dollar data center project.

"At this point, I can only confirm that we are considering a data center project in Colorado Springs,” Wal-Mart spokesperson Josh Phair told the Colorado Springs Gazette. "Beyond that, we are going through planning and a due diligence process. That’s kind of where we are."

The Colorado Springs Regional Economic Development Corp. has pulled together a package of local incentives at the city and county level, but is now looking to state officials to further sweeten the deal.

Colorado Springs, a city of 410,000 located about 60 miles south of Denver, is home to existing data centers for Verizon Wireless, HP, FedEx, T. Rowe Price, Progressive and Intel, among others. The climate will support free cooling for much of the year.

Wal-Mart has historically been secretive about its data centers, including a facility in Missouri that has been the focus of curiosity for the local press, which has dubbed it "Area 71."