Tract Capital Unveils Fleet Data Centers, Specializing In 500 MW+ Build-to-Suit Megacampuses
Tract Capital has announced the launch of Fleet Data Centers, a new platform dedicated to the development of mega-scale data center campuses with capacities of 500 MW or more, specifically designed for single-user customers.
The initiative is led by Grant van Rooyen, CEO of Tract Capital and Executive Chairman of Fleet Data Centers, and Chris Vonderhaar, the newly appointed President of Fleet Data Centers.
Vonderhaar brings extensive experience to the role, having served as Vice President of Demand and Supply Management at Google Cloud and as a senior leader at Amazon Web Services (AWS) for over a decade, where he oversaw the design, planning, construction, and operation of AWS’s global data center platform.
The Fleet leadership team also includes veterans from hyperscalers, wholesale data center providers, network infrastructure firms, and equipment vendors, with a collective track record of deploying dozens of gigawatts of data center capacity across hundreds of facilities globally.
A Two Prong Strategy
Defining two distinct strategies, Fleet is the mega-campus vertical development arm of Tract Capital, an alternative asset manager specializing in scaling digital infrastructure, which also operates Tract to refine development sites at ground level for data centers in terms of lining up power, fiber, zoning and entitlements.
Fleet Data Centers will aim to address the next phase of hyperscale data center growth by offering customized gigawatt-level campuses that provide predictability, flexibility, and scalability for hyperscalers navigating increasing infrastructure demands.
This new venture from Tract Capital underscores the growing need for innovative, large-scale digital infrastructure solutions, particularly as hyperscalers face mounting challenges in scaling their global platforms to meet the demands of the digital age.
The unveiling of Fleet is just another example of the way Tract Capital has consistently demonstrated its expertise in accelerating the scaling of responsible technology infrastructure, combining operational capabilities from industry veterans with specialized knowledge in planning, development, energy, and real estate.
According to van Rooyen, "Predictable and flexible data center delivery on large-scale contiguous campuses is the logical solution for customers trying to navigate divergent demand forecasts." He added, "Chris and I first worked together 26 years ago... It is a privilege to entrust the Fleet business into his capable hands."
Vonderhaar echoed these sentiments, stating, "Hyperscalers need infrastructure that is going to deliver predictability and flexibility decades into the future. Our collaborative, long-term model backed by our engineering, system, and operational excellence positions Fleet Data Centers to be an integrated extension of our customers’ platforms."
Fleet Data Centers aims to leverage a campus-based commercial model for development that enables customers to secure capacity for high-side demand forecasts. These campuses will be designed collaboratively with customers to align with their operational and scalability needs while incorporating ongoing design innovations to integrate new technologies.
In a press release, the company said its focus will be providing hyperscalers with infrastructure that delivers long-term predictability and flexibility in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.
Perspective
DCF's Executive Roundtable was recently polled on the most pertinent front-of-mind considerations, whether geographic, regulatory or otherwise, for MegaCampus stakeholders including investors, developers, operators, partners, vendors, and customers in the age of the gigawatt data center. (The topic was also covered in our annual data center trends forecast for this year.)
Reflecting on the topic of gigawatt scale megacampuses, Phillip Marangella, Chief Marketing and Product Officer, EdgeConneX, noted how the rapid emergence of AI’s capacity demands, added to an already robust data center market powered by the cloud, has turbocharged the need for super-scale data center campuses.
Marangella pointed out, "Not long ago, the entire Ashburn market represented a gigawatt. Now, we are seeing demand for gigawatt campuses in multiple markets worldwide, which shows how much demand is occurring globally for data center infrastructure."
He continued, "Of course, this will place many challenges on providers, from developing new data center designs that can also support the rapidly growing density requirements for AI, to raising the tens of billions needed to fund these builds -- and then coordinating the supply chain and delivery schedules to be able to deliver all of that capacity on time and on budget."
Matt Vincent
A B2B technology journalist and editor with more than two decades of experience, Matt Vincent is Editor in Chief of Data Center Frontier.
