DALLAS — Compass Datacenters and Hines acquired land in the Milan metro area with the intention to build one of the largest data center campuses in Italy. The site, located in Noviglio, will span 2.3 million square feet and aims to support 48-plus MW of IT load with construction to begin in 2023.

The joint venture marks the entry of Compass Datacenters into the European market for the first time and is also anticipated to be the first data center project to be delivered by Hines in Europe. 

“Building our first European campus in Milan is a major step in Compass’ global expansion strategy,” said AJ Byers, president and chief development officer at Compass Datacenters. “It’s geographic location, undersea cable connectivity, robust fiber availability, and affordable power makes it an ideal location for hyperscalers Hines’ vision for Italy aligns with our own, and our combined resources should accelerate the timeline for customer availability.”

“This first investment into the Italian and European data center market establishes a new area of development for Hines, representing significant opportunities in a high-growth sector,” said Mario Abbadessa, senior managing director and country head, Italy, at Hines. “The Italian data center market is becoming a leading destination for cloud providers with growing capacity requirements commonly referred to as hyperscalers, with $2.6 billion projected to be invested by 2026. Milan’s high level of network connectivity and the region’s multiple submarine cable termination points were key elements in both companies’ mutual identification of the Novigilio site as an ideal data center campus location in Milan’s supply-constrained market.”

“Sustainability is a hallmark of the approach that Compass and Hines use,” Byers said. “Our sustainable construction methodologies include the use of materials produced using GHG [greenhouse gas] reduction technology, the use of renewable fuel generators, and low-waste construction methodologies. When customers work with us, they have the assurance that their digital infrastructure will exceed regulatory requirements while also supporting corporate sustainability strategies.”

“Compass and Hines’ sustainable approach to design and construction align with the EU’s goals on carbon reduction and is consistent with our customer’s green strategies in Europe,” said Abbadessa. “Both companies view green construction as a core tenet while also attempting to reduce the customer’s total cost of ownership.”