Australian data center firm NextDC is planning another facility in Melbourne, as well as an Edge location outside the Victoria city.
The Urban Developer reports the company’s M4 facility is in the early planning stages, but NextDC is looking to invest AU$200 million ($123.8 million) in the data center at Port Melbourne.
The M4 facility is proposed for a 2.64-hectare site at 127 Todd Road. According to NextDC’s website, M4 will offer 80MW across 26,400 sqm (284,165 sq ft) of technical space.
NextDC acquired the land in Melbourne back in 2023. Phase 1 is set to offer around 10MW, according to a previous end-of-year results presentation from 2023.
M4 will be the company’s fourth facility in Melbourne. The 3,000-rack M1, also located in Port Melbourne, went live in 2012 and offers 15MW across 6,000 sqm; M2 went live in 2017, offering 60MW across 25,000 sqm; and M3 launched in 2022, offering 150MW across 40,000 sqm.
127 Todd Road, less than 3km from NextDC's existing M1 site, was previously a printing press site for News Corp, known as the Westgate Park Printing Complex. Built in 1992, the company sold the site in a leaseback deal in 2019 ahead of a full exit to a new facility.
Plans for a fifth Melbourne facility, M5, are under evaluation, according to the company’s 2024 results presentation.
NextDC’s website also references an upcoming 1MW Edge site in Geelong, a city outside Melbourne on the other side of Port Phillip. Further details haven’t been shared. The company recently launched a modular Edge location in Pilbara, Western Australia.
Other operators present in Melbourne include Equinix, AirTrunk, Digital Realty, Microsoft, Amazon, Stack, CDC, Telstra, and others.
