EdgeCore Secures $1.9B for Phoenix Data Center Campus

EdgeCore data center building in Mesa, Ariz. Image courtesy of EdgeCore Digital Infrastructure

EdgeCore Digital Infrastructure, a Denver-based data center developer, owner and operator, has obtained $1.9 billion in green financing to fund further development at its Mesa, Ariz., campus.

The financing package comprises a limited-recourse senior secured term loan, a revolving senior secured letter of credit facility and an accordion feature. A consortium of coordinating lead arrangers, including MUFG, TD Securities, ING Capital LLC, Scotia Bank and Santander, led the transaction; MUFG acted as administrative agent. Davis Polk Watson served as the borrower’s counsel and Milbank was the underwriters’ counsel.

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The deal was conducted in conjunction with EdgeCore’s owner, Partners Group, which acquired the firm in November 2022. At the time, Partners was planning to invest up to $1.2 billion to fund the acquisition and build-out of existing and future data center sites.

EdgeCore used Partners Group’s initial capital commitment throughout 2023 to expand and begin development of data center campuses in Santa Clara, Calif., in January 2023; Ashburn, Va., in March; Mesa in April and Reno, Nev., in August. The Reno campus at the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center is EdgeCore’s first data center in that region.

A massive data center campus near Phoenix

At full build-out, the Mesa campus will have 3.1 million square feet of space and support a minimum of 450 MW of critical load. The LEED-designed and water-neutral complex currently has one operational data center and two additional data centers underway totaling 206 MW of critical load capacity.

Carrying the address 3856 S. Everton Terrace, the campus is taking shape on 40 acres located in the Mesa Elliot Technology Corridor, near Apple’s 1.3 million-square-foot data center. Downtown Phoenix is some 32 miles northwest.

Green loan features

ING Capital was the sole Green Loan Structuring Agent for the current financing. Fentress Boyse, member of Management, Private Infrastructure Americas at Partners Group, said in a prepared statement this deal marks the largest green loan obtained by one of the firm’s companies to date.

Julie Brewer, senior vice president of finance at EdgeCore Digital Infrastructure, added in prepared remarks the company is focused solely on designing scalable data center campuses to meet the density requirements of hyperscalers. Brewer said campuses like the one in Mesa are designed with sustainable construction, operations and business practices in mind, making them eligible for debt financing from a green loan.

For example, the temperature regulation at the Mesa campus uses an air-cooled design with an ultra-efficient closed-loop chilled water system that will allow the company to achieve a benchmark water usage effectiveness rating of nearly zero and a power usage effectiveness rating far below the industry average of approximately 1.50.

Those energy efficiency and sustainable water management features enabled the financing to be structured as a green loan in alignment with the latest Green Loan Principles as published by the Loan Market Association, Asia Pacific Loan Market Association and Loan Syndication & Trading Association.