Denver-based data center operator Cologix is set to invest $7 billion in Licking County, Ohio.

First reported by AOL, the company will spread the investment across its previously announced eight-facility data center campus.

Cologix col4 columbus
Cologix's existing facility in Columbus – Cologix

Located between Clover Valley Road and Duncans-Plains Road, the campus is set to deliver up to 800MW of capacity across two million square feet, with the first phase expected to begin in 2025.

Further details and specifications remain unknown.

The property was acquired from Johnstown Land Company, an affiliate of New Albany Company, for $45 million in September this year.

"As the largest provider of colocation and interconnection solutions in Columbus, we are thrilled to deepen our investment in central Ohio,” Cologix CEO Laura Ortman said in a statement. “This new eight-data-center campus is more than an expansion — it’s a testament to our commitment to high-capacity, resilient digital infrastructure that not only meets but anticipates our customers' evolving requirements.”

Cologix already operates four data centers in the Columbus area with a combined footprint of 500,000 square feet and 80MW of power. The company completed work on the 50MW COL4 earlier this year.

Cologix started with a single facility in Columbus in 2013 and acquired adjacent land and the Ohio-based DataCenter.BZ in 2014 to bolster its presence in the city.

Columbus and its surrounding area have recently become a data center hotspot, with the likes of AWS, Meta, Microsoft, Vantage, CyrusOne, Edged, Google, and Aligned all having a presence.

AWS announced in 2023 that it planned to spend $7.8 billion over six years on more data centers in the region. Earlier this week, the tech giant added $10 billion to its investment in the state, bringing the total investment to $23 billion. $3.5 billion of that is expected to go to New Albany, where it plans to build a five-building data center campus.

Last month, Amazon was eyeing up a site in Fayette County, southern Ohio, for data center development.

Microsoft also announced a $1 billion investment across three data centers in Licking County.

The recent growth has raised concerns about electricity and power demands. In October, energy firm AEP Ohio filed a settlement agreement, requiring new customers to pay for a minimum of 85 percent of the energy they need each month regardless of actual use.

In 2022, Intel announced plans to build two semiconductor plants in New Albany, Ohio, alongside a $20 billion investment. The chip factories were then delayed due to uncertainty around chip legislation. Last month, the US government reduced the amount of funding Intel will receive on investments in states including Ohio.