DataBank Plans 20MW Data Center in Minneapolis Market

Colocation specialist DataBank is known for sturdy infrastructure and connectivity. Those two traits will be the building blocks for a major expansion in the Minneapolis market.

The company today announced plans to build a new data center in Eagan, Minnesota, that will support up to 20 megawatts of power for customer IT equipment. The new facility builds upon DataBank’s 2013 acquisition of VeriSpace, which provided its initial footprint in the Minnesota region.

It also means more new capacity in the fast-growing Minneapolis-St. Paul market, which has emerged as a hot expansion target for data center and cloud providers.

The Eagan project is part of DataBank’s strategy to grow beyond its original footprint in Dallas. The company is also expanding into Kansas City, where it acquired Arsalon earlier this year.

“This announcement represents an important benchmark in DataBank’s regional plan,” said Tim Moore, CEO of DataBank. “The facility infrastructure and service level we can offer will be unparalleled in this market. This will provide a great advantage for the growth of both our current client-base as well as meet demand from a wide diversity of businesses here in the Twin Cities.”

Former Taystee site to get robust network connectivity

DataBank has acquired an 88,000 square foot existing building in Eagan that it will convert into a data center, reinforcing the structure and retrofitting some of the infrastructure to support cooling. The former Taystee Bakery building can accommodate up to 48,000 square feet of raised-floor customer space, deployed in 10,000 square foot increments.

When completed, the facility will include 20 megawatts of utility power using diverse feeds, configured in a 2N (complete redundancy) system with an on-site power generation plant.

In addition to highly resilient infrastructure, DataBank sees an opportunity for the Eagan facility to serve as a second “carrier hotel,” offering interconnections to providers in the Minneapolis market and serving as a suburban complement to the existing data hub at the “511 building” downtown.

DataBank scouted many sites in the area, but was impressed with Eagan’s combination of robust power availability from Dakota Electric and Great River Energy, as well as its existing AccessEagan fiber optic network.

Governor: "Great news" for local economy

"DataBank’s expansion is great news for Eagan and great news for Minnesota," said Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton. "We welcome this new development and congratulate the company on this important project that will create jobs in our state and provide an important telecommunications service to the entire region."

Minnesota has emerged as one of the most promising second-tier markets in the country, with a flurry of service providers deploying new mission-critical space. ViaWest recently opened  a 9 megawatt facility; Cologix has been expanding rapidly in the 511 building; Stream Data Centers is building a 75,000 square foot data center in a southwest suburb, and Compass Datacenters has partnered with CenturyLink on a new facility.

“DataBank’s planned colocation data center facility in Eagan is another sign of our region’s evolving innovation strength,” said Michael Langley, CEO of Greater MSP (Minneapolis Saint Paul Regional Economic Development Partnership). “It’s a win-win for DataBank, the city of Eagan, our region and the state of Minnesota.”

DataBank currently owns and operates data centers totaling more than 180,000 square feet of data center space in the Dallas area, 15,000 in Kansas City and another 15,000 in the former VeriSpace site in Edina, Minnesota.