
Columbiana – Seven new building permits have been recently issued across Alabama for construction projects exceeding $1 million for projects in the Birmingham metro area, Huntsville and Auburn.The most expensive is for a $440 million data center conversion project in Columbiana.
The project will convert the existing facility, a former bitcoin mining center, into a Tier 3 data center, purpose-built to support high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) workloads.
US Data Centers, a subsidiary of Digihost Technology Inc., is leading the transformation project at its Columbiana facility. It will be executed in two phases, with a total planned capacity of 55MW. The first phase, scheduled for completion in 2026, will deliver 22MW of HPC capacity, requiring an investment of $176 million.
The second phase, expected by in early 2027, will add 33MW, bringing the total investment to $440 million. The development will be financed primarily through debt, leveraging anticipated future revenues.
A $7 million building permit has been issued to Dunn Building Co. for part of this project.