Cologix Plans $7B AI-Ready Data Center Campus
Cologix has acquired land from Johnstown Land Co. in Johnstown, Ohio, to develop a new, AI-ready data center campus. The first phase of development is anticipated to begin in 2025.
The expansion, part of a $7 billion investment, marks the network-neutral interconnection and hyperscale edge data center company’s continued presence in Central Ohio’s digital infrastructure.
The campus plan includes 154 acres and will feature eight AI-ready data centers when fully built out, delivering a potential 800 MW of scalable capacity across 2 million square feet.
“This new 800 MW data center campus will help us meet the growing demand for AI-ready infrastructure,” Chris Heinrich, chief revenue officer at Cologix, told Commercial Property Executive.
Central Ohio is a premier area for data center expansion thanks to its strategic location and robust infrastructure, Heinrich explained. “The region’s accelerating tech ecosystem and highly skilled workforce make it an ideal hub for innovation and growth. Breaking ground in 2025, this campus will mark the next step in our commitment to driving innovation and enabling our customers’ digital transformation.”
Heinrich said Cologix recognized Central Ohio’s potential over a decade ago, identifying it as a strategic hub for digital growth. Since then, it has become the largest colocation provider in the Central Ohio region.
Cologix operates four data centers in Columbus with a combined footprint of 500,000 square feet and 80 MW of power.
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“This area is rapidly becoming the digital heartland for tech businesses,” Heinrich said. “As demand for AI-ready infrastructure grows, Cologix sees even more opportunities to expand its colocation and interconnection footprint to help power customers across North America.”
Columbus’ data center market expansion
The Columbus data center market has experienced tremendous growth over the last five years, far exceeding the national average, according to Andrew Batson, head of U.S. data center research for JLL.
Across colocation and hyperscale facilities, the Columbus market has grown from 160 MW in 2019 to 2,100 MW in 2024, increasing 13 times in just five years.
“Columbus has many advantages working for it: abundant and affordable land, power rates below the national average, proximity to the national long-haul fiber-optic network, a growing labor pool, and a central Midwest location with seamless transportation options,” Batson said.
Before the surge in data center development in Columbus several years ago, the region had excess power capacity and offered relatively quick connections to the grid, Batson added. “Power capacity has become more constrained, and connection lead times have increased. Still, the current conditions in the region are on par with what data center developers and operators will find in other markets across the US.”
Columbus began to grow at scale in the late 2010s as a hyperscale market. Similar to the growth trajectory of other data center markets, one large hyperscale investment attracted other hyperscalers, which in turn attracted a number of colocation providers.
Columbus has since grown into a complete data center ecosystem with over 2.1 GW commissioned facilities, a trained data center labor force, and roughly 6 GW of land-banked sites.
Vantage Data Centers is another firm that has invested in the Columbus area. Last month, the company made a $2 billion investment and broke ground on a 192-megawatt campus dubbed OH1.
The facility will be more than 1.5 million square feet on 70 acres in New Albany, a suburb northeast of Columbus. Upon completion, it will total more than 1.5 million square feet and be designed to achieve LEED Silver certification.
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