A Newport Beach-based investor hit the jackpot on the data center trend, fetching $71 million from Microsoft for 300 open acres it carved off an industrial development in Nevada.
Mark IV Capital, a commercial real estate-focused private equity firm, sold off the chunk of its Victory Logistics District in Fernley, about 40 miles east of Reno, the Orange County Business Journal reported.
Data centers have become a hotspot for development and a hot button for environmental concerns recently. Demand for the facilities first picked up with the advent of bitcoin and has more recently drafted off the development of artificial intelligence. Both of the technologies require big capacity for data storage and also use a great deal of energy and water.
The segment has pushed forward in various markets, bringing billion-dollar-plus capital investments in some cases.
Mark IV’s project in northern Nevada is in the works at a site that totals 4,300 acres and has been master-planned as an industrial and logistic hub. Microsoft will join a roster of other big names of the tech industry with operations in northern Nevada ranging from a gigafactory to data centers in the area, including Tesla, Google and Apple.
The logistics segment of the area is also chock full of big names, including U-Haul Holding and Caesars Entertainment.
Mark IV CEO Evan Slavik attributed strong demand for space in northern Nevada to scarcity caused by the federal government’s enormous holdings of land in the Silver State.
The firm began construction on the second phase of the development about two months ago, with plans for “tens of millions of square feet of distribution and manufacturing space” at full buildout, according to a statement. Mark IV kicked off construction of its first phase in May 2021 and has nearly 2 million square feet of Class A distribution space completed.
Mark IV also envisions the possibility of a residential development to complement the industrial and logistics hub on 1,500 acres of land nearby along Interstate 80.
— Jerry Sullivan
Editor’s note: This story was updated to clarify that the second phase of Mark IV’s project broke ground earlier this year and the first phase began in 2021.
Read more
Development
Texas
Will Texas’ energy grid keep up with data center forecasts?
Development
Fort Worth
ACS lands tax break for $2B Fort Worth data center