(LONDON) – Compass Datacenters and Hines, the global real estate firm, have acquired land in the Milan metro area with the intention to build one of the largest data center campuses in Italy. The 2.3 million square feet Noviglio-located site aims to support 48MW+ of IT load with construction to begin in 2023.
The joint venture marks the entry of Compass Datacenters, one of the world’s leading data center developers, into the European market for the first time, and is anticipated to be the first data center project to be delivered by Hines in Europe.
“Building our first European campus in Milan is a major step in Compass’ global expansion strategy. Its geographic location, undersea cable connectivity, robust fiber availability and affordable power makes it an ideal location for hyperscalers,” said AJ Byers, President and Chief Development Officer at Compass Datacenters. “Hines’ vision for Italy aligns with our own, and our combined resources should accelerate the timeline for customer availability.”
Mario Abbadessa, senior managing director and country head, Italy, at Hines, commented: “This first investment into the Italian and European data center market establishes a new area of development for Hines, representing significant opportunities in a high-growth sector. The Italian data center market is becoming a leading destination for cloud providers with growing capacity requirements commonly referred to as hyperscalers, with $2.6 billion projected to be invested by 2026. Milan’s high level of network connectivity and the region’s multiple submarine cable termination points were key elements in both companies’ mutual identification of the Noviglio site as an ideal data center campus location in Milan’s supply-constrained market.”
“Sustainability is a hallmark of the approach that Compass and Hines use. Our sustainable construction methodologies include the use of materials produced using GHG reduction technology, the use of renewable fuel generators, and low-waste construction methodologies,” said Byers. “When customers work with us, they have the assurance that their digital infrastructure will exceed regulatory requirements while also supporting corporate sustainability strategies.”
Compass and Hines’ sustainable approach to design and construction aligns with the EU’s goals on carbon reduction and is consistent with our customer’s green strategies in Europe,” said Abbadessa. “Both companies view green construction as a core tenet while also attempting to reduce the customer’s total cost of ownership.”
About Hines
Hines is a privately owned global real estate investment firm founded in 1957 with a presence in 285 cities in 28 countries. Hines oversees investment assets under management totaling approximately $90.3 billion¹. In addition, Hines provides third-party property-level services to 373 properties totaling 114.2 million square feet. Historically, Hines has developed, redeveloped or acquired approximately 1,530 properties, totaling over 511 million square feet. The firm currently has more than 198 developments underway around the world. With extensive experience in investments across the risk spectrum and all property types, and a foundational commitment to ESG, Hines is one of the largest and most-respected real estate organizations in the world. Visit www.hines.com for more information.
¹Includes both the global Hines organization as well as RIA AUM as of December 31, 2021.
About Compass Datacenters
Compass makes lives better by providing the world’s technology leaders a secure place to plug in wherever they grow. We provide custom, move-in ready data centers from edge deployments to core facilities serving hyperscale, cloud and enterprise customers. Since our inception, we have embraced sustainability with the efficient use of land, green energy, water free cooling and building materials. Our campus approach empowers customers with easily scalable capacity, high levels of control and ultimate flexibility with the long-term perspective and financial strength of private investors, RedBird Capital Partners, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and the Azrieli Group. For more information, visit www.compassdatacenters.com.
