American infrastructure developer Stream Data Centers (SDC) has begun the construction of a $250m, 56,000 sq ft (5,200 sq m) facility in Chaska, Minnesota, on behalf of U.S. Bank, a subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp.

Twin Cities win 

SDC builds and operates data centers for corporate clients across the United States, with facilities in Texas, Minnesota and Colorado. This will be the company’s second data center in Chaska, the other being a 75,700 sq ft facility located on West Creek Lane. Designed to support a 2.4MW IT load, the site will provision its power from two separate substations. 

When it was announced last year, the facility was expected to open in 2018 due to pending planning permissions -  now, the opening date has been moved to the end of 2017. 

The data center will be located on the outskirts of Minneapolis, in close proximity to the U.S. Bank headquarters and opposite UnitedHealth Group’s 189,000sq ft (17,500sq m) facility built in 2010.

Chaska is a popular location for data centers due to state laws offering tax relief based on investment and facility size. The area is also served by Chaska Electric, a private utility company owned by the city, and is located at the center of the region’s dense fiber network.

The project will receive $548,000 in tax abatements on equipment purchases and consumed energy over the next 20 years.

According to the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), Minneapolis-Saint Paul - the “Twin Cities” - account for 90 percent of Minnesota’s data centers, 25 of which were either built or refurbished since 2012.