SIGNALDATAAccountability. For the People. Preview
Data center project · Linn County, Iowa

QTS Cedar Rapids campus (Big Cedar Industrial Center)

Under construction · QTS's first Iowa campus, on 612 acres of the Alliant-controlled Big Cedar Industrial Center, is under construction with city tax rebates and could grow to seven buildings.

← Iowa data centers
Adair CountyAdams CountyAllamakee CountyAppanoose CountyAudubon CountyBenton CountyBlack Hawk CountyBoone CountyBremer CountyBuchanan CountyBuena Vista CountyButler CountyCalhoun CountyCarroll CountyCass CountyCedar CountyCerro Gordo CountyCherokee CountyChickasaw CountyClarke CountyClay CountyClayton CountyClinton CountyCrawford CountyDallas CountyDavis CountyDecatur CountyDelaware CountyDes Moines CountyDickinson CountyDubuque CountyEmmet CountyFayette CountyFloyd CountyFranklin CountyFremont CountyGreene CountyGrundy CountyGuthrie CountyHamilton CountyHancock CountyHardin CountyHarrison CountyHenry CountyHoward CountyHumboldt CountyIda CountyIowa CountyJackson CountyJasper CountyJefferson CountyJohnson CountyJones CountyKeokuk CountyKossuth CountyLee CountyLinn CountyLouisa CountyLucas CountyLyon CountyMadison CountyMahaska CountyMarion CountyMarshall CountyMills CountyMitchell CountyMonona CountyMonroe CountyMontgomery CountyMuscatine CountyO'Brien CountyOsceola CountyPage CountyPalo Alto CountyPlymouth CountyPocahontas CountyPolk CountyPottawattamie CountyPoweshiek CountyRinggold CountySac CountyScott CountyShelby CountySioux CountyStory CountyTama CountyTaylor CountyUnion CountyVan Buren CountyWapello CountyWarren CountyWashington CountyWayne CountyWebster CountyWinnebago CountyWinneshiek CountyWoodbury CountyWorth CountyWright CountyQTS Cedar Rapids campus (Big Cedar Industrial Center) · Under construction
Status
Under construction · as of Dec. 2, 2025
Location
Big Cedar Industrial Center, southwest Cedar Rapids (Edgewood Road SW, 76th Avenue SW, Fairfax Road) · Linn County
Status note
First phase under construction; the city approved an amended agreement allowing up to seven phases.
Power
Not reported
No power figure published in the sources reviewed.
Land
612 acres
Investment
At least $750 million required by the agreement; the city expects about $1.75 billion or more across up to seven phases of about $250 million each
Developer and team
QTS Data Centers (through QTS Cedar Rapids LLC)
Utility
Alliant Energy (Interstate Power and Light)
Water
Company says it will use a cooling system that does not consume water
Incentives
Cedar Rapids City Council: 20-year, 70% property tax rebate per phase and a 20-year, 75% rebate of the electric franchise fees the city collects through Alliant; QTS to pay up to $18 million over 20 years into a city community betterment fund
Evidence
News reports; primary records not yet obtained
Size class
50 MW or more (tracker scope)
Map position approximate, from the reported address or area. Updated Oct. 17, 2026.

Updates, newest first

  1. Dec. 2, 2025 Council unanimously approved an amended agreement allowing up to seven phases, each with a separate building owner and at least 15 jobs; city staff put expected investment near $1.75 billion. (The Gazette, Dec. 2, 2025)
  2. Oct. 21, 2025 Construction crews marked the topping out of the first building. (The Gazette, Dec. 2, 2025)
  3. Feb. 12, 2025 The city and Alliant Energy publicly named QTS as the developer, calling it the largest economic development investment in the city's history. (Corridor Business Journal, Feb. 12, 2025)
  4. Jan. 28, 2025 Cedar Rapids City Council approved a development agreement with QTS Cedar Rapids LLC requiring at least $750 million of investment in two or more phases. (Corridor Business Journal, Feb. 12, 2025; Data Center Frontier, March 3, 2025)

Conflicts and open questions

  • A temporary natural gas generating plant is to be used during construction only, according to a company spokesperson cited by The Gazette.
  • Development agreement itself not yet pulled from city records.

Have records about this project? Send them to tips@signaldata.org.