Data center operator Colt DCS and APAC real estate firm ESR are partnering in Japan.

The pair have formed a joint venture to develop the first phase of a 130MW hyperscale data center site in Minoh City, Osaka, Japan.

The first phase, comprising 65MW, will be designed and built by the JV and operated by Colt.

Site preparation work is already underway, with construction is scheduled to begin in 2027, and the facility expected to be ready for service in late 2029.

Niclas Sanfridsson, CEO of Colt DCS, said: “Colt DCS has built a strong track record of delivering world-class data centers for our hyperscale customers in Japan. The joint venture with ESR will allow us to accelerate our expansion in Japan, enabling us to support the expansion plans for our global cloud customers and the emerging AI sector.”

Stuart Gibson, co-founder and co-CEO, ESR, added: “Japan is a key pillar of our data center strategy, and our joint venture with Colt DCS marks a milestone in our blueprint to deliver next-generation data center infrastructure that underpins digital growth across the region.”

The Minoh site spans approximately 140,000 sqm (1,506,947 sq ft) of land that the joint venture has acquired and rezoned for development.

Colt DCS opened its Osaka Keihanna data center in 2023. Across the rest of Japan, it currently has five sites in Tokyo and another in development.

ESR’s first hyperscale facility, the 72MW OS1 Osaka, completed commissioning in 2025. The facility, within ESR’s Cosmosquare campus, was developed in partnership with Stack. ESR's other data center developments in Japan include the 100MW Keihanna data center campus in Kyoto; and 30MW Higashi Kurume, and 60MW Ariake facilities in Tokyo.

Diarmid Massey, CEO, data centers, ESR, added: “Our partnership with Colt DCS complements ESR’s ability to deliver data centers at scale in high-demand markets for capital partners and customers. Our purpose-built, high-performance Minoh data center is being designed to support hyperscale, AI, and large enterprise-driven workloads. Beyond its technical capabilities, the site will be a vibrant hub for local innovation, engagement, and sustainable growth.”

Colt DCS’ portfolio includes 13 operational data centers, with an additional 19 in development across 11 cities in the UK, Europe, and APAC.

ESR has traditionally been focused on logistics real estate, and claims to be the largest logistics real estate company in APAC. The company has made a number of investments in the data center space since 2021; it has 575MW of committed data center sites in key markets across APAC, with a pipeline of more than 2GW worth of land and projects.

ESR has developments planned in Hong Kong, Malaysia, South Korea, and Australia. ESR subsidiary ARA Asset Management also has a data center footprint through its Logos Group unit, which partnered with Pure Data Centres for a 20MW facility in Indonesia.