A new data center developer has been launched by BlackRock and construction firm ACS.

Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) this week announced the launch of Coravel, a new data center platform targeting hyperscalers.

The newly launched company claims a 1.7GW development portfolio (1.2GW IT load) across the US, Europe, and Australia, with 150MW currently under construction.

Coravel also announced its first major hyperscaler customer agreement at its Dallas-Fort Worth campus, covering ~140MW of critical IT load with ~100MW of future expansion capacity.

ACS subsidiary Turner Construction will lead delivery of the campus. Delivery timelines have not been shared.

Howard Boville has been appointed CEO of Coravel. He was previously president of DXC and has held roles at IBM, Bank of America, BT, and Comcast.

“We created Coravel to enable hyperscalers and leading technology companies to deliver digital infrastructure with greater speed, certainty and accountability,” Boville said on LinkedIn.

“By bringing together power strategy, site origination, design, construction, capital, and operations through one accountable partner, we simplify what's become one of the world’s most complex infrastructure challenges.”

The new unit is backed by GIP and ACS Group. The two formed a €2 billion ($2.33bn) 50:50 joint venture to build and manage data centers last year, seeded with ACS’ data center pipeline.

"The launch of Coravel represents an important milestone in ACS Group's strategy to build a leading global digital infrastructure platform," said Juan Santamaría, chief executive officer of ACS Group.

"By combining our proven development, engineering, and construction expertise with GIP's long-term investment strength, we've created a business uniquely positioned to help customers meet one of the world's fastest-growing infrastructure needs."

ACS is best known in the US as the owner of Turner Construction. The company owns or has stakes in Hochtief, CIMIC, Leighton Asia, Ventia, and numerous others. Data center clients include Meta and Vantage. Traditionally known as a construction firm serving clients' own builds, ACS had recently pivoted to developing its own data centers that can be leased or sold to customers.

Full details of Coravel’s pipeline haven’t been shared, but at the time of the formation of the joint venture, ACS had developments in the works in Aragon, Spain, and Fort Worth, Texas.

Previous company presentations suggested the firm had 1.1GW of potential data center capacity (278MW in Spain, 220MW in Australia, 300MW in the US, and 300MW in Chile).

Founded in 2006, GIP manages more than $100bn in client assets across infrastructure equity and debt, with a focus on energy, transport, water and waste, and digital sectors. BlackRock acquired GIP in 2024.

GIP’s other digital investments include data center firm CyrusOne and Vodafone tower company Vantage Towers (both in partnership with KKR). The firm has also previously provided loans to data center firm Vantage (unaffiliated with the tower company).

GIP owner BlackRock has numerous other data center investments, including Germany’s Mainova Webhouse, Gravity Edge in the UK, a stake in Edge firm Armada, and a stake in AI Infrastructure Partnership (which in turn owns Aligned).