A New Approach to Urban Data Infrastructure

While industry standard data center projects often require massive plots of land—averaging 224 acres according to data from Cushman & Wakefield—Kansas City-based developer Revitalization Unlimited is taking a different path. The company has unveiled plans for a 20-story vertical data center situated on a mere 0.23-acre footprint in the heart of Kansas City.


Technical Configuration and Design

The proposed tower, designed by the firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), represents a significant shift in infrastructure density. Out of its 20 stories, only two levels will be dedicated to housing actual computing equipment. The remaining 18 floors are designated for heavy mechanical systems, power distribution, and cooling infrastructure. Of the building's 141,000 gross square feet, approximately 109,000 square feet will be utilized to house this support equipment to provide 24 MW of IT capacity.


Steve Austin, founder and CEO of Revitalization Unlimited, emphasizes the strategic importance of this location: “We are not arguing that every data center belongs downtown. We are arguing this one does, and we are paying a construction premium to prove it.”


Why Build Upward?

The primary motivation for this vertical architecture is proximity. By placing computing power closer to end-users and key network nodes, the developer aims to reduce latency for time-sensitive applications. Use cases for such dense urban connectivity include:

  • Financial trading platforms where millisecond differences in execution can be decisive.
  • Real-time inference services requiring rapid response times.
  • Telecommunications and content delivery networks.

As Luis Fernandes, a senior research manager at IDC, notes: “It is not uncommon for stock traders to seek addresses closest to the actual stock exchange servers where transactions are processed in order to gain a few fractions of a second in any given transaction.”


Economic and Operational Challenges

The project comes with a hefty price tag of $183 million, roughly $1,300 per square foot—a figure significantly higher than traditional suburban data center construction costs. A major portion of these expenses, roughly $107 million, is allocated to mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection systems.


Operational strategies for the site include:

  • Power Generation: The facility plans to utilize 30 MW of Bloom fuel cells for primary power, though this will involve natural gas consumption.
  • Efficiency and Cooling: The design targets a Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) of 1.25, utilizing evaporative cooling methods.

Beyond the budget, the project faces engineering hurdles, including managing equipment weight, optimizing elevator capacity, and coordinating crane access, which could complicate future maintenance and hardware replacement logistics. The development currently awaits formal approval, with a pending ordinance status extending through October 13, 2026.