Old newspaper printing plant being repurposed as a massive data center
The five-acre campus is being transformed by Patmos into a hardware-agnostic, 100+ megawatt artificial intelligence innovation facility as part of a billion-dollar retrofit project.
What do you do when a 400,000-square-foot building housing the printing presses of a daily newspaper is no longer needed? You turn it into a data center!
That’s exactly what Patmos is doing, repurposing of the former Kansas City Star printing press building as the location for its latest flagship data center. This strategic expansion enhances Patmos’ presence to meet the growing demand for scalable, high-density computing infrastructure, reaffirming its dedication to secure and resilient data solutions.
Located in the heart of Kansas City, the five-acre campus is being transformed by Patmos into a hardware-agnostic, 100+ megawatt artificial intelligence (AI) innovation facility as part of a billion-dollar retrofit project. Kansas City has emerged as North America’s fastest-growing hub for AI and machine learning workloads due to its central location, low natural disaster risk, robust fiber optic infrastructure, and affordable green energy. Patmos expects to have the first 40 MW online and rack-ready in 18 months with the first 5 MW online next month.
Patmos provides a verticalized infrastructure that draws clients of all sizes who seek an edge in an increasingly competitive AI landscape. With three data centers now completely occupied in Kansas City, Dallas, and Phoenix, Patmos is expanding in its second Kansas City campus to keep up with client demand, and is quickly earning a reputation as a data center owner/operator able to provide a deeper value than traditional hyperscalers.
Targeting densities up to 100 kilowatts per rack or greater, Patmos is also implementing advanced cooling solutions, such as liquid cooling, rear-door heat exchangers, immersion cooling, and steam power generation – along with robust power distribution systems to maintain efficiency and reliability at densities demanded by next-generation hardware. As the former newspaper production facility of the Kansas City Star, the site of Patmos’ next project amplifies the broader national trend of repurposing multi-megawatt industrial buildings for high-density compute purposes.
“In a world where Big Tech is investing over $20 million per MW to stand up new data centers years down the road, the infrastructure already in this building allows us to build at a fraction of the cost in a fraction of the time,” said Joe Morgan, Chief Infrastructure Officer of Patmos. “By breathing new life into historic structures, we can create sustainable and innovative AI data centers. Repurposing these buildings not only preserves architectural heritage but also reduces the environmental impact of new construction. These revitalized spaces can become hubs of technological advancement, powering the future of AI while honoring the past.”
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