Data Center Census Near me

Project Borealis

Mesa, Maricopa County, AZDeveloper: Novva Data Centers

Also known as Novva Mesa campus

ApprovedMesa Planning and Zoning Board approved the plan in late January 2025; no City Council vote required; construction start not confirmed from a primary source
  1. Rumored
  2. Proposed
  3. Approved
  4. Under construction
  5. Operating

Project Borealis is the code name Mesa city documents use for Novva Data Centers' planned campus on about 160 acres at Ellsworth and Warner roads in southeast Mesa. Novva says it will total 300 MW and cost more than $3 billion over two phases. Mesa's Design Review Board gave feedback in August 2024 and the Planning and Zoning Board approved the plan in late January 2025; Novva has said the first phase would launch in late 2026.

Planned capacity
300 MW
campus total per Novva (company claim)

Key facts

Size & schedule

Planned capacity300 MW [1]
campus total per Novva (company claim)
Phase 1 capacity96 MW [1]
critical IT load of the first phase, per Novva
Site size160 acres [1]
Novva and AZ Big Media say 160; other reports give 159, 160.5 and 165 (the 2023 auction bid covered 165 acres)
Buildings5 data halls [3]
AZBEX, reporting on the Design Review Board filing, lists five data center halls of 228,585 sq ft each; an earlier pre-submittal had a sixth
Stated investment$3 billion [1]
'more than $3 billion' over two phases across the next decade, per Novva
Source excerpt
“will invest more than US$3 billion to build the campus in two phases over the next decade”
Target completionFirst phase to launch in late 2026 (Novva statement, August 2024) [1]

How big is that? Data center sizes compared with football fields and Central Park.

Local decisions & site

Deciding voteMesa Planning and Zoning Board approved the project in late January 2025; city staff said on Feb. 3, 2025 that it does not need City Council review [4]
Source excerpt
“approved by Mesa's Planning and Zoning Board in late January”

Figures are as stated by the cited source. Where sources disagree, each figure is shown.

Timeline

  1. Novva wins a state land auction for about 165 acres in southeast Mesa with a $62.7 million bid [4]

  2. Mesa Design Review Board hears the plan under the name Project Borealis and takes no action, giving the applicant feedback [2]

  3. Novva announces a 300 MW campus in Mesa [1]

  4. Mesa Planning and Zoning Board approves the project [4]

  5. City staff confirm the project, a permitted use in the Light Industrial district, does not have to go to the City Council [4]

Issues raised

  • The sources reviewed do not report objections or opposition to the project

Issues are concerns and claims raised by the parties, officials or residents named in the cited sources. They are reported as attributed, not as findings by the Census.

Sources

  1. Novva Data Centers Announces New Campus in Mesa
    Novva Data Centers · Aug 21, 2024 · company
  2. Utah data center firm gears up for first Arizona project
    ABC15 / Phoenix Business Journal · Aug 15, 2024 · news
  3. Mesa DRB Reviews Project Borealis Data Center Plan
    AZBEX · Aug 20, 2024 · news
  4. $3 billion Mesa data center campus gets green light
    ABC15 / Phoenix Business Journal · Feb 3, 2025 · news
  5. Mesa to See Construction of Multi-Billion Dollar Data Center Facilities and Campus
    Construction Reporter · Feb 10, 2025 · news
  6. Novva Data Centers will build $3 billion campus in Mesa
    AZ Big Media · Sep 4, 2024 · news

Cite this page

Last updated Oct 13, 2026. Figures may change as records are updated — include the date you retrieved them.

APAData Center Census. (2026). Project Borealis. Retrieved from https://datacentercensus.com/dc/novva-project-borealis-mesa-az
MLA“Project Borealis.” Data Center Census, Oct 13, 2026, https://datacentercensus.com/dc/novva-project-borealis-mesa-az.
Linkhttps://datacentercensus.com/dc/novva-project-borealis-mesa-az

Republishing a figure or table? Attribute it to Data Center Census with a link to this page. The underlying data is downloadable as JSON and CSV; the press kit has standing figures and contact details.