Observing growing demand for data center services in US markets other than the traditionally hot ones ÔÇô such as Silicon Valley or New York ÔÇô QTS is planning to invest US$20m into expanding available space and power capacity of its data center in Lenexa, Kansas, which serves the Kansas City-area market.

QTS said the expansion would double available space at the 40,000 sq ft facility, which it recently bought after having been leasing it. The company is also planning to upgrade connectivity at the site.

The data center currently includes about 6,000 sq ft of raised floor, providing about 500kW of critical power, a QTS spokeswoman wrote in an email. The company has not at the moment finalized development plans for the expansion.

QTS CEO Chad Williams said the company was seeing increasing demand for data center space outside the "traditional top-tier" markets.

"This expansion offers desirable opportunities for those seeking high-density data center solutions in the Midwest and also enhances options for current customers looking to expand their presence with us through our managed services and cloud offerings," he said.

The company is planning to complete the Lenexa expansion by 2012.

QTS has been on an aggressive expansion schedule over the past three quarters, during which it completed expansions in Santa Clara, California, and Atlanta. Expansion projects are ongoing in New Jersey and Virginia.

The company currently operates about 3.1m sq ft of data center space across 12 data centers. It owns about 95% of the space it operates.