Digital Realty Trust: Digital Realty designs data center on Marseille sugar silo site

Digital Realty will construct a new data center on the site of an ancient sugar silo at the Port of Marseille-Fos, having won a bid to acquire and develop the land. The new MRS5 facility will reportedly encompass approximately 107,640 square feet and will be operational by the end of 2025. According to Gomet, the corporation will invest 280 million dollars in the project.

In December 2021, the Grand Port Maritime de Marseille (GPMM) first solicited expressions of interest for the AMI Sugar Silo. The vacant complex comprises a 38,750-square-foot storage facility, a weighing tower, a vehicle delivery dock, and conveyor belt transfer machinery. The silo was constructed during the 1960s, but it has been abandoned since 2015. The facility is reportedly in need of asbestos removal.

Multiple data center developers, including Telehouse, desired to construct on the site. Digital Realty operates multiple data centers in Marseille, with MRS2, 3, and 4 all located within 500 meters of the new location. MRS3 will operate in 2020 in a former World War II submarine base. The nearby MRS4 was launched in late 2022. Each of the three facilities employs river conditioning.

In 2014, Digital Realty – then known as Interxion – appeared in Marseille by acquiring an SFR data center. This site, renamed MRS1, is also close to the port.