AI and cryptomine data center developer Applied Digital has secured a new customer for one of its hyperscale campuses.

The company this week announced it has entered into a lease agreement with a new US-based “high investment-grade hyperscaler” for its 430MW Delta Forge 1 data center campus.

The two 15-year leases total 300MW of IT load, and are valued at $7.5 billion. The deals span two buildings on the campus and include three five-year renewal options.

"We remain focused on delivering operational AI capacity at scale,” said Wes Cummins, chairman and CEO of Applied Digital. “With this agreement, we now have two US-based investment-grade hyperscalers across our portfolio, marking an important step in the continued diversification of our customer base and strengthening the overall quality and visibility of our contracted revenue. Our priority remains execution –– bringing capacity online on schedule and operating it with discipline over the long term.”

Applied broke ground on Delta Forge 1 in January. The company hasn’t previously detailed the location of the campus beyond saying it is located in a “strategic southern US market.”

However, an April investor presentation lists the site in Alexandria, Louisiana.

Initial operations at Delta Forge 1 are anticipated to commence in mid-2027.​​ The first phase will comprise two 150MW buildings on some 500 acres.

Applied noted that this is the third hyperscale tenant the company has secured for its campuses. The company has secured 900MW of leases with 1GW of total capacity in development across three sites.

The company’s Polaris Forge 1 and 2 hyperscale campuses are located in Ellendale and Harwood, North Dakota. The former is set to be leased to CoreWeave while much of the latter is set to be leased to an unnamed “investment grade hyperscaler.”

Meta and Amazon are known to be developing in Louisiana, the latter in partnership with Stack. Hut 8, another crypto firm pivoting to AI, is also developing in the state.

Applied looks to secure new debt

Applied Digital was founded in 2021 as Applied Blockchain. The Nasdaq-listed firm still operates two cryptomine sites in Jamestown and Ellendale, North Dakota, totaling some 286MW.

The company does not mine its own Bitcoin, traditionally hosting hardware on behalf of other cryptomining firms. Like many other crypto firms, it is amid a large-scale pivot to host HPC and AI hardware amid massive demand for available capacity. Applied is also offering its own cloud services, but is spinning the company out into a separate entity.

In the same announcement, Applied also said it expects to enter into an up to $300 million senior secured bridge facility to fund continued development of the 150MW Building 3 data center located on its Polaris Forge 1 campus.

The company also expected to secure an up to $300 million senior secured revolving credit facility to fund pre-lease and post-lease development activities across Applied Digital’s platform, as well as general working capital needs and transaction expenses.

Applied had previously targeted a new campus in South Dakota, but has seemingly cooled its interest in the development.