CyrusOne will break ground on a 1m-sq-ft modular data center in Pheonix, Arizona, today which once complete could be the largest of its kind in the US.

The data center is provisioned to have 110MW of power from a substation being built on the site and will be built using CyrusOne’s Massively Modular design concept, which CyrusOne says allows it to build out additional modules in 16 weeks.

CyrusOne plans to bring its massive data center online in phases depending on demand. CyrusOne said in September last year it said Phase 1 would cover 350,000 sq ft and would be complete late 2012 or early 2013.

The colocation facility will be built on a 57-acre parcel of land, which according to CyrusOne CTO Kevin Timmons offers a cost-competitive advantage to existing clientele in the California area.

“We are confident that CyrusOne’s innovative design paired with the excellent cooperating environment the Pheonix market offers is an ideal combination for delivering high-density, mission-critical solutions . . . at a scale unmatched by our competitors,” Timmons said.

“We’re delivering a cost-competitive alternative for our California clientele looking to secure company data away from the earthquakes and other natural disasters experienced there.”  

Power is delivered at a low rate in the Pheonix market. In October last year, figures by real estate services company CBRE showed that prices were ranging between US$0.06 and $0.07kWh.

CyrusOne paid US$12.5m to Capital Commercial Investments for its Pheonix site in 2011, according to news organization AZCentral.

Meanwhile, CyrusOne’s owner Cincinnati Bell has been considering spinning off its successful colocation business as it looks to restructure its business.

CyrusOne currently operates as a separate legal entity which could make it easy to spin off either a part of or the entire business unit.

CyrusOne’s full-year 2011 revenue was about US$185m, while Cincinnati Bell’s communications business generated about $1.3bn for the year.