Ames data center won't house AI servers, Des Moines company says

Ames data center won’t house AI servers is the key message from a Des Moines firm seeking to build a new facility at an airport site as the city evaluates its pitch. Lightedge, which is based in Des Moines, wants to develop a 100,000-square-foot building at James Herman Banning Ames Municipal Airport, following discussions that drew residents to Ames City Hall on Tuesday, June 23. City documents describe the project as smaller and regional in scale than “hyperscaler” campuses. The company stressed the facility is a third-party “co-location” data center where businesses rent space for servers and IT equipment, not what it called an “AI data center.” No council action was taken, and a listening session is scheduled for June 30. Lightedge said it has two data centers in Des Moines totaling 78,000 square feet and that it has built data centers for 30 years, with an Iowa site in Altoona operating for 20 years. The site is nearly 11 acres along Aviation Way, earmarked for non-aeronautical uses in a 2020 Airport Master Plan.