A data center project proposed around Little Rock could be the state’s largest economic development project in state history with a price tag of $6 billion.
Avaio Digital of Connecticut announced the project will be bilt on nearly 800 wooded acres near Interstate 530 in Pulaski County and construction could begin in the next few months. Completion is expected in June 2027 when the center is “complete and energized.”
AVAIO is currently contracted with Entergy Arkansas for 150 MW of power, but the company anticipates power demand of up to 1 GW as the facility grows.
Avaio is also at work on another $6 billion data center project called the Taurus Data Center Hub in Brandon, Mississippi. Work on the project started last fall at a 329-acre campus and the company expects the center to be operational in the first half of 2027, nearly the same time as the Little Rock center.
Arkansas Business reports that the center is the fifth large-scale data center project in Arkansas following previous announcements of projects in West Memphis, Conway, Clarksville and a separate project at the Little Rock Port.
Avaio Digital will lease the developed site to one or more large-scale computing companies known as hyperscalers who will use it to facilitate computing functions like AI and cloud computing.
Mark McComiskey, CEO of AVAIO Digital stated, “It is our intention that this extraordinary 760-acre site in the Little Rock area will be both a major pole of data center capacity and an engine of sustained economic and technological momentum for Arkansas. With a first phase investment of $6 billion and over $21 billion through full development, infrastructure of this scale requires support from communities and partners, and we thank Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Secretary of Commerce Hugh McDonald, and Entergy Arkansas for helping make this possible. We look forward to continuing to work with these partners and the local communities as we break ground in early 2026.”
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the data center hub planned by Avaio Digital “sets the Natural State up to become a technology powerhouse that can compete with any state in the nation.”
She added, “”Just last year, Arkansas led the way and passed legislation that reduced the regulatory timeline for new energy projects by more than half and offered new incentives to data center investments. This announcement confirms that cutting red tape and cultivating a pro-business, pro-growth environment is not only appealing to companies; it is what makes Arkansas one of the best states to live and work.”
The Little Rock campus was chosen for its many advantage, according to the company’s announcement:
- Robust, low-latency interconnection options with multiple long-haul and regional fiber routes connecting to major data center markets including Dallas, Atlanta and Memphis as well as emerging edge markets across the Southeast and Midwest
- Rapid delivery of grid power by Entergy, with a contracted 150 MWs energized in Q2 of 2027
- Substantial onsite natural gas infrastructure facilitating rapid deployment of energy-efficient on-site power
- At 760 acres, a size sufficient to support a large, multi-building campus with on-site power generation
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