Microsoft has acquired more than 280 acres in the El Mirage area of Phoenix, Arizona.
As reported by BizJournal and AZ Central, Microsoft paid more than $258 million for the land in El Mirage, close to its existing data centers in the area.
According to Maricopa County property records. Microsoft closed on two parcels at Northern Parkway on either side of Dysart Road last month, acquiring them from DPML Copperwing LLC, which is owned by Dermody Properties.
The two sales comprised of $130 million for 143 acres and $128 million for 140 acres.
Microsoft purchased the additional property in El Mirage to support data center construction that's already underway in the area, Bowen Wallace, corporate vice president for Microsoft Datacenters and Americas, said in a statement to BJ.
BJ reports that Dermody recently received city approvals from El Mirage to develop three data center buildings totaling 750,000 sq ft (69,680 sqm) on the same site acquired by Microsoft. The company had previously planned to develop two million square feet of warehouse space on the site.
The company first acquired 150 acres in the area in 2019. The company’s existing site currently includes one completed data center launched in 2021, with a second data center building in the permitting process.
In April, the El Mirage City Council approved a site plan amendment on the existing site, allowing Microsoft to add another 245,000 sq ft (22,760 sqm), single-story data center.
The company has multiple landholdings around the Phoenix area. It owns more than 450 acres in Goodyear along MC-85 and Lower Buckeye Road where it has two data centers, and along Citrus and Indian School roads.
Microsoft launched its West US 3 Azure cloud region – based in Phoenix – in June 2021.
In other news, Microsoft has been granted permission for its Project Ruthenium data center campus in West Des Moines. The City Council approved the development agreement at a May 21 meeting. Phase one of the new campus will include a 245,000 sq ft building with a total investment of $210 million.
