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Data centers in Polk County, Iowa: 5 projects mapped
Microsoft runs five data center campuses in West Des Moines and plans a sixth there, with construction set to start in 2026 under an agreement the City Council approved with the company. The first campus opened in 2012, and the company has invested an estimated $5 billion to $6 billion in the city. Elsewhere in the county, Edged is building a 13-megawatt data center in Ankeny, and Tract has asked Altoona to rezone about 370 acres north of Interstate 80 for a data center park.
The sixth Microsoft campus will sit on farmland across the road from David Roach's family farm near Cumming. "There's a reason that we lived out here in the country, and it wasn't to have this huge data center across the road," he said. More than 10 percent of West Des Moines' tax base is now tied to the campuses, and the city has spent over $200 million on public infrastructure to serve them. Economic development director Ryan Moffatt said the city wants to "diversify our economy" in case the buildings ever go dark.
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Microsoft's buildings are cooled with water in hot weather. West Des Moines Water Works says they use 2 to 7 percent of the water it pumps each month, 2.1 percent on average from 2021 to 2025, under an agreement allowing up to 5 million gallons a day. The utility says the 2025 lawn-watering ban and its May 2026 request to cut lawn watering by half were caused by high nitrate levels in the Raccoon and Des Moines rivers, not the data centers.
In Ankeny, the Edged building is a $187 million project on 17.5 acres that Ankeny City Council approved unanimously in March 2025, with completion aimed for 2027. In Altoona, where Meta already runs a data center campus, Tract was under contract for land between Northeast 62nd and 70th Avenues; the city's economic development director, Chad Quick, said no site plan had been submitted. "There's power, there's land and we have some water," he said.
Data center projects on record in Polk County
Grouped by the town each site sits in. The report above may name projects that have no record here yet.
Altoona2
| Project | Company | Status | Power | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meta AltoonaAltoona | Meta | Not reported | ||
| Tract AltoonaAltoona | Tract | Proposed | Not reported |
Ankeny1
| Project | Company | Status | Power | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edged DSM01-1 Data CenterAnkeny | Edged | Under construction | 13 MW |
Des Moines1
| Project | Company | Status | Power | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cielo Des MoinesDes Moines | Cielo Digital Infrastructure | Proposed | 150 MW |
West Des Moines1
| Project | Company | Status | Power | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft West Des Moines IVWest Des Moines | Microsoft | Not reported |
Where this comes from
The reporting above was written from these. Open one and check it yourself.
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.