Global Switch is planning a grand entry into the Hong Kong market. The company has bought land to build a massive data center on the Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate.

The London-based provider of wholesale data center space, owned by the Swiss investment company Reuben Brothers, is planning to invest HK$2.8bn (about US$360m) into the development project. The company may invest more if there is enough customer demand.

John Corcoran, executive chairman of Global Switch, said the facility would be an important resource for local, regional and global customers looking to expand in Hong Kong. For the provider, this is just one more step in its Asia-Pacific expansion strategy.

“We have ambitious expansion plans to further strengthen our leadership in the Asia-Pacific region, with further new data centers planned in the near future,” Corcoran said.

Many global data center companies are expanding in the region, expecting to capitalize on its rapid economic growth. Gartner predicted in June that the Asia-Pacific hosting-services market would grow by 10-15% per year on average over the next three-to-five years.

Existing Global Switch data centers in the region are in Singapore and Sydney. About one third of its total revenue currently comes from its Asian accounts.

In Hong Kong, the provider expects to see strong demand for its data center space from the banking, financial-services, insurance, trading and logistics sectors.

Once fully built out, its future data center there will have a total footprint of 375,000 sq ft, according to the provider. The facility’s total power capacity will be 45MVA.

Global Switch plans to start construction in 2013, expecting to bring Phase I online in the first quarter of 2015.

The company has a total of nine data centers. Besides Singapore and Sydney, it has properties in London, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Paris and Madrid, providing a total of 3.1m sq ft of floor space across the portfolio.

Global Switch reported £312.7m in revenue for the fiscal year ended 31 March 2012.

Global Switch COO Paul Hohnsbeen is speaking at this week’s Converged conference in London.