Data centers in Dallas County, Iowa: 3 projects mapped

Imagery: Esri, Maxar

Dallas County's data center growth, on the western edge of the Des Moines metro, is concentrated in Van Meter, where two big campuses are moving forward. COPT Defense Properties, a Maryland real estate trust that builds data center shells in Northern Virginia, bought over 300 acres in northeast Van Meter in 2024 for its first site outside Virginia, for an unnamed Fortune 100 cloud company; it says the site could hold 15 buildings, two substations and 1 gigawatt of power. Microsoft bought 377 acres next door in Van Meter's Vision Park, south of 360th Street, in January 2024, and plans at least 10 data centers there of about 227,000 square feet each.

The city rezoned the COPT land "specifically to attract a data center," said City Administrator Liz Faust, who signed a non-disclosure agreement; she said COPT's tenant would be a "heavy power user" but only a moderate water user. Van Meter expects to spend $30 million on streets, sewers and water lines for the Microsoft project, which Microsoft will recoup through tax increment financing. "I feel like everything has been moving really quickly with these guys," Faust said.

Apple has opened the first building of its long-delayed campus on Hickman Road in Waukee, announced in 2017 and originally due in 2020; the 2,000-acre site has room for up to five more buildings. State geologist Keith Schilling has said Iowa's data centers are "not necessarily" locating where groundwater is plentiful.

Every project above is drawn from public records, filings and local reporting. Each row links to what it is based on. Statuses change, so check the source date before you rely on one. Found something wrong? Write to [email protected] and it gets fixed.