Panattoni to build 48MW data center campus

European industrial real estate developer Panattoni is planning a data center outside Barcelona, Spain.

The company announced this week that it has acquired a 60,000 sqm (645,830 sq ft) plot of land in Cerdanyola del Vallès to the north of Barcelona and aims to develop a 42MW two-building campus.

Construction on the first building is set to begin before the end of the year. Panattoni reportedly aims to invest around €300 million ($328m) in the project.

The two 8,542 sqm (91,945 sq ft) buildings will each contain three 1,608 sqm (17,300 sq ft) data halls and will include an on-site substation.

“We are very excited to move forward with this project, which will surely be the largest data center to be built in Catalonia on the market. With our experience in industrial real estate development and the expertise of our partners and collaborators, we are sure it will be a success. This project confirms the continuity of Panattoni’s development and investment plans in Catalonia and Spain,” said Gustavo Cardozo, managing director of Panattoni Iberia.

The land deal was transacted with the Parc de l’Alba Consortium, made up of the Catalan Land Institute (INCASÒL) and the Cerdanyola del Vallès City Council. Terms of the acquisition were not shared.

The engineering and design of this data center will be carried out by Quark; an operator and lessee will be selected in a process led by Colliers in collaboration with Telam Partners.

Jose María Guilleuma, director of the Colliers data center division, said: “The project designed by Panattoni in Cerdanyola confirms the position of the Barcelona metropolitan area as a privileged location for data centers in the Mediterranean. The project’s location is strategically significant and will contribute to expanding digital infrastructure throughout Southern Europe and North Africa. Barcelona is prepared to be a key player in the data center market.”

Founded in 1986, Panattoni has developed around 578 million square feet of office, logistics, and industrial space globally.

Last year Panattoni abandoned plans to build a data center in the UK in the Borehamwood area of London alongside Pure Data Centres. The two companies planned and were granted permission to develop a three-story, 41,763 sqm (449,500 sq ft) data center set to offer up to 50MW of capacity. However, the deal did not compete, reportedly due to energy constraints in the area impacting development timelines.

Logistics & warehouse industrial real estate firms are increasingly looking to move into the data center space. The likes of ESR, Prologis, GLP, Segro, P3, Agility, and others are also looking to develop facilities in the US, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia Pacific.

Some are developing in partnership with existing operators – ESR is working with Stack, while Prologis has partnered with Skybox in the US – and some like GLP are seeking to become operators themselves. Data Center Dynamics