Why it matters
The strategic read
Turns Digital Realty's Kansas City entry into a power-first hyperscale receipt rather than a generic land story. The scarce asset is the combination of 1,440 acres, a signed utility-service pathway, large-load tariff exposure, an on-site substation plan and a 600 MW first-phase power target that can scale to 2 GW. It also puts another AI-era megacampus next to Panasonic's De Soto battery complex and a potential large solar buildout, showing how industrial megasites are being repurposed into compute-and-power campuses.
Source-supported terms
What was disclosed
- 01
DCD reported on June 22, 2026 that Digital Realty is expanding into the Kansas City metro with a large De Soto, Kansas campus.
- 02
Digital Realty acquired approximately 1,440 acres at Astra Enterprise Park from Sunflower Redevelopment Group in April for about $475M.
- 03
Digital Realty president and CEO Andy Power said the Kansas City powered-land purchase enhances the company's ability to serve hyperscale customers' near-term requirements.
- 04
The first phase, Astra North, would cover approximately 280 acres with up to nine buildings, about 3 million square feet and an on-site substation.
- 05
DCD reported that Digital Realty entered into an energy service agreement with Evergy to provide 600 MW of utility power by early 2028, rising to 2 GW at full delivery.
- 06
Digital Realty will pay for energy under Kansas' higher large-load tariff.
- 07
DCD said the site will reportedly use outside-air cooling most of the time, with evaporative cooling during peak hot periods.
- 08
Local reporting said Astra North is expected to cost roughly $4B excluding data-center equipment and that Digital Realty plans to fund about $300M of infrastructure improvements, including substation and transmission-line costs.
- 09
Digital Realty's project page says the De Soto project is still in planning, subject to required permitting and review, and expected to support more than 1,000 peak construction workers and about 250 full-time jobs once operational.
- 10
Astra Enterprise Park is the former Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant site and also hosts Panasonic's EV battery plant; DCD noted a 600 MW solar farm could be developed on roughly 3,000 acres within the park.
- 11
In the same June 22 package, Digital Realty also announced plans to acquire Columbia Capital for about $485M and to increase its Teraco stake by 16 percent for about $650M.
Disclosure boundary
What is known—and what is not
Near-primary DCD report quoting Digital Realty CEO Andy Power and summarizing the land acquisition, Evergy energy-service agreement, large-load tariff, Astra North site plan and related corporate transactions, supported by Digital Realty's De Soto project page and local reporting. Public materials disclose the land/site, first-phase building count and square footage, 600 MW early utility-power target, 2 GW full-delivery path, approximate land acquisition price, planning/permitting posture and local infrastructure commitments. Public materials do not disclose the full Evergy agreement, tariff exhibits, exact power-delivery milestones, tenant/customer identity, final building permits, EPC awards, final capex by phase, equipment/GPU allocation, water permits, cooling design details, tax-incentive documents, financing structure or lease terms.