Equinix will be outfitting two warehouses as data centers after receiving assent from Salford City Council’s planning panel.

The warehouses are located in the Agecroft Commerce Park in Salford, Manchester, and have not been in use since constructed. The news was first reported by the Manchester Evening News.

The site will be Equinix's fifth data center hub in the Greater Manchester area.

Manchester expansion

The site was owned by the REIT Vengrove and built by Barnfield Construction in 2018. One warehouse totals 130,000 sq ft (12,077 sq m), including a 5,000 sq ft (465 sq m) two-story office, and the other smaller building comprises 70,000 sq ft (6,503 sq m), including a 3,500 sq ft (325 sq m) two-story office.

Vengrove sold it back in April for an undisclosed sum to an unnamed buyer.

According to documents, engineering firm Arup will be redeveloping the warehouses into data centers following the council's decision on October 15. The company initially submitted the planning application on Equinix's behalf.

Equinix operates four data centers in Manchester, but this latest development will be the company's first in the Salford area.

As the UK’s third-largest city, Manchester occupies a key strategic location in the center of the country, at the intersection of the UK’s highly resilient “figure-of-eight” fiber-optic network.

Now that permission is granted, an extra story will be built in the warehouses to double its floor space, and the site will also see a substation installed.