Jeff Pomeranz was city manager in West Des Moines when the community was approached around 2008 by a consultant looking for land on which to build a data center for Microsoft Corp.

At the time, development of large-scale data centers was just beginning to gain steam. And even though Google had begun building its first data center in Council Bluffs, little was known about infrastructure or other needs for the facilities. Leaders also didn’t know whether having a data center in a community would be beneficial.

“It was all very new to us,” said Pomeranz, now Cedar Rapids’ city manager. “We took a gamble that the Microsoft project would be a benefit to the area and that it would grow.”

Grow it did. Since Microsoft entered Central Iowa, it has acquired over 650 acres in West Des Moines and 453 acres in Van Meter. The technology giant, headquartered in Redmond, Wash., has built nearly 3.9 million square feet of data center space in West Des Moines with plans to add at least another 2 million square feet.  

Other tech powerhouses have also entered or expanded their presence in Iowa. Apple Inc. owns 2,000 acres in Waukee, where it is developing over 1.9 million square feet of data center space. Google has data center campuses in Council Bluffs, and its plans for another campus in Cedar Rapids were recently announced. Meta, which owns Facebook and other tech giants, has developed over 2.7 million square feet of data center on 520 acres in Altoona, and it plans to build a data center in Davenport. 

In addition to data centers owned and operated by private corporations, other companies are developing colocation data centers, or those that support multiple tenants. 

COPT Defense Properties, headquartered in Maryland, in 2024 acquired 365 acres in Van Meter for a data center that would include one or more tenants. QTS, headquartered in Kansas, is planning a data center on 612 acres in Cedar Rapids that also would include one or more tenants. New York-based data center developer Edged plans on building a 105,00-square-foot data center in southeast Ankeny. A company is buying 300 acres in Norwalk for a large data center (the name of the company was not yet public at press time). 

Data centers are helping to diversify Iowa’s economy, said Debi Durham, director of the Iowa Economic Development and Iowa Finance authorities. “When you have the who’s who of the data centers, you put Iowa on the map. Now, you have to consider how we are going to be positioned to grow that industry and how do we see that industry growing in more rural areas.”

Data centers expand across the U.S.

The growth in data center development and the expansion of cloud computing are closely intertwined. Cloud computing, introduced in the early 2000s, allows services such as storage, servers, networking and software to be delivered over the internet. The delivery model allows companies and others to access crucial software applications remotely rather than installing and maintaining them on servers on their premises. 

However, the hardware to operate cloud services needed to be located somewhere, prompting the rapid development of data centers, usually large rectangular-shaped fortified warehouses. The need for even more data centers has grown as cloud-based technologies have advanced, workplace habits changed and development of artificial intelligence expanded. And that need for more data centers has companies gobbling up land across the country.

In 2022, there were 2,701 data centers in the U.S., according to Statista.com. By March 2024, the number had nearly doubled to 5,381.

The largest concentration of data centers in the U.S. is in Northern Virginia, where 70% of the world’s data centers are located, according to DataCenters.com. The area has access to reliable and expandable power grids and a dense fiber optics network. It also has a favorable business environment and access to a highly educated workforce, many of whom have expertise in IT, engineering and telecommunications.

A similar but much smaller hub is near Silicon Valley in California, according to DataCenters.com.

But as land in those areas was snatched up and demand inflated land prices, tech companies began searching other areas of the country with access to power and water, developable land and workers, including electricians. Iowa has been one of the places tech companies flocked to build data centers.

The tech companies “are looking for land that is not in flood plains; land that is connected to the necessary power lines to get them the service capacity that they need,” said Marcus Pitts, senior managing director of JLL/Des Moines. “As land has become less available in other markets, these companies look to other places like Des Moines and Kansas City. 

“There’s been a lot of activity not just in Central Iowa but also on the eastern and western sides of the state and on the northern side.”

Data centers spur economic growth

Since Microsoft Corp. began building data centers in West Des Moines, the tech giant has invested over $5 billion in the community, said Ryan Moffatt, the city’s community and economic development director. 

“That has helped propel us to have the third-highest property tax valuation in the state even though we’re the seventh-largest city in the state in terms of population,” Moffatt said. The tech company’s investment in West Des Moines doesn’t include two data center campuses still under development and another that is planned in a portion of the city that is in Madison County. 

Microsoft employs over 400 full-time employees at its data centers in West Des Moines, a number that is expected to at least double when all of the construction is complete, Moffatt said.

In addition, Microsoft’s data centers are located in tax increment financing districts where growth in property taxes is captured and used to help pay for infrastructure needs in the areas. More than $200 million in public improvements such as the installation of new sewers, water lines, roads and bridges have been constructed in West Des Moines, Moffatt said. Most of the projects were paid for with property tax increment generated from the data centers, he said.

Among the new infrastructure is the 8.5-mile extension of Veterans Parkway and the Grand Prairie Parkway bridge over the Raccoon River. The new infrastructure has opened up about 4,500 acres for new residential, commercial and industrial development. 

West Des Moines’ experience has shown that large tech companies don’t need direct financial incentives from cities to help development costs, Moffatt said. “We’ve been smart about using infrastructure as our incentive. There’s a permanency to it. Residents can actually see what we’ve incentivized with all of the new public infrastructure that’s been installed. … [Microsoft’s investment] has been a big economic boost for us.”

Meta has had a similar impact on Altoona. 

Meta began developing its data center campus north of Interstate Highway 80 in Altoona in 2013. The company, headquartered in Menlo Park, Calif., now owns about 1 square mile of land in the eastern Polk County community.

Little development had occurred north of the interstate because sewer and water hadn’t been extended to the area.

Meta “paid for a sewer main that serves the area; they’ve upgraded water mains and constructed a water tower,” said Chad Quick, Altoona’s economic development director. “They’ve helped with a lot of public infrastructure, which has led to 3.3 million square feet of new warehouse space in the area. … All of that infrastructure has opened up a lot of other development opportunities.”

Altoona has additional land available on which more data centers can be constructed, Quick said. “Like a lot of other communities, we continue to get calls from other companies looking for places to build data centers.”

One company that may be building a data center in Altoona is Cologix, which describes itself as a leading network neutral interconnection and hyperscale edge data center company. Cologix, headquartered in Denver, Colo., purchased 78 acres of farmland in September along Northeast 56th Street, east of Meta’s campus.

Data center growth in Cedar Rapids

Pomeranz, Cedar Rapids’ city manager, is hoping the development of data centers for Google and QTS spurs additional development in Iowa’s second-largest city. 

The eastern Iowa community is getting inquiries about developable land from companies that provide services to data centers and questions about available leasable spaces in warehouses, Pomeranz said. 

Development of the Google and QTS data center campuses in Cedar Rapids will have a multiyear impact on the community’s local economy, said Bill Micheel, the city’s director of economic development and development services. 

Numerous people in the construction trades will be needed to prepare ground for development and to erect buildings that will house the computing hardware. The biggest demand will be for electricians, Micheel said.

“We’re going to have a significant number of folks who are going to be either commuting or living in Cedar Rapids temporarily for a period of years while the [data centers] are being constructed,” Micheel said. “We’re looking at somewhere between five and 10 years, depending on what happens with the economy. … When you’ve got additional people in town, that obviously brings in additional money being spent at restaurants, grocery and retail stores.” 

Pomeranz also hopes that Google and QTS add more data centers than they are originally planning.

“They both have the land they need for the projects they are doing now, but we saw what Microsoft did in West Des Moines; we hope that will happen in Cedar Rapids as well,” Pomeranz said. “We have the electrical resources they need to keep growing. We’ve got the land, we’ve got the water, we’ve got the wastewater treatment [facilities] and we’ve got the road systems.

“When you put all of that together, we’re a great place to locate these facilities.”

Durham, Iowa’s economic leader, said she believes the state will continue attracting new data center development. 

The rapid growth of artificial intelligence means there will be continued demand for new data centers, she said. “Iowa is an attractive [market] for data centers because of the renewables we have and the land we have.”

One concern officials have is whether the data centers that have been developed in Iowa will become obsolete. 

So far, in West Des Moines and Altoona, older data centers have been updated or remodeled, officials said. 

“You know, almost as soon as they finish a data center, they start doing upgrades,” Quick said. “Will those buildings be around for a long time? It’s a good question. … It seems that the AI push is making the data centers viable for at least a little longer.” 

Moffatt agreed, adding that technology is changing so quickly that it’s difficult to know what will be needed 10 or 15 years from now. 

“The tech companies have spent years finding the right sites and getting them developed,” Moffatt said. “I think the companies, because sites are becoming harder to find, will either retool [obsolete] facilities or start over and build again in that location.”

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At a glance

The following is information about data centers located in Iowa compiled from information provided by Iowa Economic Development Authority, DataCenterMaps.com and county assessors’ websites. 

• Number of acres: At least 6,644 acres.
• Number of square feet: At least 15.3 million square feet of data center space that is either operational, under construction or proposed.
• Dollars invested (or is planned to be invested) by data center operators: Nearly $14.7 billion since the mid-2000s.
• Taxable valuation: At least $4.6 billion in taxable valuation to communities.

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Data Centers in Iowa

Iowa has more than two dozen data centers in the state that are either owned and operated by one company or are operated by a company that leases space to one or more tenants. At least four other hyper-data centers are planned in the state — two each in Van Meter and Cedar Rapids. The following information was compiled from information provided by Iowa Economic Development Authority, DataCenterMaps.com, county assessors’ websites and news articles. Hover over the points on the map for more details, or scroll down for a list of information about these data center sites.

Apple Inc.
Address: 2995 W. Hickman Road, Waukee
When development began: 2022
Acres: 2,000
Square feet: 361,504 (currently)
Investment costs: $1.3 billion, when fully built out
Assessed valuation: $213,894,960 
Other information: When fully built out, it will include five data centers with over 1.9 million square feet of space. 

Ark Data Centers 
Address: 460 12th Ave. S.E., Cedar Rapids
When development began: 2008
Square feet: 19,000
Other information: Ability to add 40,000 additional square feet.

Bluebird Quad Cities Data Center
Address: 2701 Devils Glen Road, Bettendorf
Square feet: 53,000

Cologix DSM1
Address: 666 Walnut St., Des Moines
When development began: 2024
Square feet: 4,000

Cologix DSM2
Address: 1205 Technology Parkway, Cedar Falls
When development began: 2004
Acres: 4
Assessed valuation: $2,417,140 
Other information: Ability to add 10,000 additional square feet.

Cologix DSM3
Address: East of Northeast 56th Street and one-fourth of a mile north of 25th Street Northwest, Altoona.
Other information: The Denver, Colo.-group bought the land in September. Specific plans have not been released.

Consolidated Communications
Address: 400 Locust St., Des Moines

COPT Defense Properties
Address: East of Richland Road and north of 360th Street, Van Meter
Acres: 365
Other information: COPT Defense Properties hasn’t released specifics about its plans in Van Meter.

CyrusOne OCB1
Address: 4700 Gifford Road, Council Bluffs
When development began: First phase completed in 2022
Acres: 20
Square feet: 216,000
Investment costs: $60 million
Assessed valuation: $26,163,000 

Edged U.S. Data Centers
Address: 2701 S.E. 90th St., Ankeny
Acres: 37 
Square feet: 105,000
Investment costs: $187 million
Other information: The Ankeny City Council in March approved a development agreement with Edged, which builds and operates AI-ready data centers for major hyperscale cloud companies and others. The Ankeny facility is expected to use an energy-efficient waterless cooling system. Edged will lease server space to technology company clients. The data center is expected to create 22 new jobs.

Enseva Hiawatha
Address: 755 Metzger Drive, Hiawatha
When development began: 2012
Other information: A new multi-tenant center is planned in Hiawatha that will house a portion of Iowa Health System’s data. The new facility will be 17,000 square feet and have the ability to add three additional 12,000-square-foot modules. A data center in Altoona is also planned. 

Global Reach
Address: 2321 N. Loop Drive, Ames
When development began: 2017
Acres: 14
Square feet: 48,000
Assessed valuation: $7,307,000 
Other information: Can add another 25,000 square feet.

Google
Address: 6550 Edgewood Road, Cedar Rapids
Acres: 414
Investment costs: Estimated $576 million
Other information: The site can accommodate one or more additional data centers. At least 31 full-time jobs would be created with wages at or above the high-quality wage rate.

Google
Address: 1430 Veterans Memorial Highway, Council Bluffs
When development began: 2007
Acres: 172
Square feet: 2,890,000
Investment costs: $6.5 billion (total for both campuses in Council Bluffs)
Assessed valuation: $147,334,800
Other information: The first phase of construction was valued at $600 million. The company employs a total of about 900 workers at both campuses.

Google
Address: 10410 Bunge Ave., Council Bluffs
When development began: 2016
Acres: 1,000
Square feet: 2,900,000
Investment costs: $6.5 billion (total for both campuses in Council Bluffs)
Assessed valuation: Just over $1 billion
Other information: About 50% of the land is built out. The company employs a total of about 900 workers at both campuses.

Great Lakes Colocation
Address: 1501 35th Ave. W., Spencer
When development began: 2011
Square feet: 9,000

InfoBunker
Address: 4350 Westown Parkway, West Des Moines
Other information: Located in an office building.

ITS Iowa Data Center
Address: Monticello
When development began: 2007
Square feet: 3,200

LightEdge-Altoona II
Address: 1435 Northridge Circle, Altoona
When development began: 2013
Acres: 7.3
Square feet: 78,180
Assessed valuation: $14,200,000 
Other information: Can add up to 20,000 square feet more of data center space.

Meta (Facebook)
Address: 100 Share Way N.W., Altoona\
When development began: 2013
Acres: 520
Square feet: 2,740,000
Investment costs: $2.5 billion
Assessed valuation:  $1,163,095,400 
Other information: When all of the expansion projects are completed, the campus will include 5 million square feet of space. Meta employs 400 people at the site.

Meta (Facebook)
Address: Northwest corner of Hillandale Road and Enterprise Way, Davenport
When development began: 2024
Acres: 328
Square feet: 715,000 
Investment costs: $800 million
Assessed valuation: $420 million when completed

Microsoft Corp.
Address: Generally, east of Richland Road along 360th Street, Van Meter
When development began: Not yet announced
Acres: 453
Square feet:  Not yet announced
Investment costs:  Not yet announced
Assessed valuation:  Not yet announced
Other information: Microsoft bought the farmland in Van Meter in early 2024. 

Microsoft Corp. – Alluvion
Address: 550 S.E. White Crane Road and 3590 S.E. Soteria Ave., West Des Moines
When development began: 2014
Acres: 127
Square feet: 918,956
Assessed valuation: $612,766,000 

Microsoft Corp. – Ginger East
Address: 1475 S.E. Maffitt Lake Road, West Des Moines
When development began: 2022
Acres: 123
Square feet: 496,782 
Investment costs: Estimated $1 billion
Assessed valuation: $84,165,100 
Other information: When completed, the campus is expected to have over 1.8 million square feet of data center space.

Microsoft Corp. – Ginger West
Address: 11100 Booneville Road, West Des Moines
When development began: 2021
Acres: 153
Square feet: 523,400 
Investment costs: Estimated $1 billion
Assessed valuation: $315,000,000 
Other information: When completed, the campus is expected to have over 1.8 million square feet of data center space.

Microsoft Corp. – Project Mountain
Address: 8855 Grand Ave., West Des Moines
When development began: 2009
Acres: 41
Square feet: 487,927
Assessed valuation: $244,832,910 
Other information: Microsoft’s first data center campus in West Des Moines.

Microsoft Corp. – Project Osmium
Address: 5855 S.W. Kerry St., West Des Moines
When development began: 2019
Acres: 110
Square feet: 1,217,900
Assessed valuation: $755,320,000 

Microsoft Corp. – Ruthenium
Address: Southwest corner of Veterans Parkway and Southwest 60th Street, West Des Moines
When development began: 2024
Acres: 103
Square feet: 245,000
Investment costs: $210 million
Other information: The site can support up to four data centers.

OneNeck
Address: 11191 N.W. Aurora Ave., Urbandale
When development began: 2009
Square feet: 20,000

QTS Data Center
Address: Along 76th Avenue Southwest in Big Cedar Industrial Center, Cedar Rapids
When development began: Announced in 2025
Acres: 612 
Investment costs: $750 million
Other information: Up to 1.4 million square feet of data center space is planned.The first phase would be completed by late 2028. At least 15 jobs with pay at rates for high-quality jobs  would be created with each phase of development. Up to three phases of development could occur.

US Secure Hosting Center
Address: 24253 US-151, Monticello
When development began: 2002
Other information: Underground facility.