Meta Eyes $10B AI-Optimized Data Center Campus

December 5, 2024

Data Centers Development Featured News More Southeast

Build-out of the 4 million-square-foot project will take at least six years.

Aerial rendering of Meta's data center campus site in Richland Parish, La. — Meta’s data center campus in Richland Parish, La., will encompass 4 million square feet at full build-out. *Image courtesy of Louisiana Economic Development*

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, will build a $10 billion, 4 million-square-foot AI-optimized data center campus in Northeast Louisiana’s Richland Parish. Site work will begin later this month, with construction continuing through 2030.

The facility reportedly will be the largest of more than 20 Meta data centers around the world. It’s also one of the largest private capital investments in the state’s history.

Louisiana Economic Development did not reply to Commercial Property Executive’s request for additional information.

Meta’s largest data center campus in the world

The data center’s location is on a 2,250-acre megasite formerly known as Franklin Farms, between Rayville and Delhi, La., about 30 miles east of Monroe, La.

Roughly 20 years ago, local landowner George Franklin persuaded the state of Louisiana to purchase the land, essentially banking it for a large future economic development project, at that time envisioned to be an automobile plant, according to a report in Shreveport Times.

Access to infrastructure and a reliable grid were among the reasons for Meta’s selection of the Richland Parish site, Director of Data Center Strategy Kevin Janda said in prepared remarks.

In that vein, regional electric utility Entergy plans to expand its generation capacity in the area, and Meta has committed to match its electricity use with 100 percent clean, renewable energy, up to a total of at least 1,500 MW.

In addition, the company has pledged to invest more than $200 million in local infrastructure improvements, including roads and water systems, and to invest in water restoration projects in Louisiana, with the goal of restoring more water than it consumes at the data center.

Big data plus big money

An in-depth CPE article examines, among other topics, the extent to which AI might be supplanting cloud computing as the main driver of data center development nationwide. The central role of access to electrical power is also highlighted.

No wonder, then, that the sector is seeing deals like the one in October, when Equinix launched a joint venture with partners GIC and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board to raise in excess of $15 billion to develop hyperscale data centers across the U.S.