A ~50MW AI data centre approved by Colorado Springs planning at the site of a former Intel chip fab near Garden of the Gods Road, bucking the trend of Front Range data centre restrictions.
A new AI-focused data centre facility approved for development at the site of a former Intel semiconductor fabrication plant near Garden of the Gods Road in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The project, which received planning approval from Colorado Springs' planning department, targets approximately 50MW of capacity and is positioned as an AI-ready infrastructure facility taking advantage of the existing industrial-grade power and structural infrastructure at the former chip fabrication site.
Colorado Springs stands in contrast to other Front Range cities in Colorado, including Denver, Jefferson County, Boulder County, Larimer County, and Longmont, which moved to pause or restrict new data centre development during 2026. Colorado Springs' proactive approval signals the municipality's intent to position itself as a data centre-friendly destination within the Colorado market, leveraging its competitive power and land costs as well as proximity to major US military and government installations.
The repurposing of former semiconductor manufacturing facilities for data centre use represents a growing trend in the US, with such sites often offering significant pre-installed power capacity, redundant utilities, and large floor plates suited to high-density computing deployments. The Colorado Springs facility is expected to target AI training and inference workloads, supporting the growing demand for GPU-accelerated compute infrastructure along the Rocky Mountain corridor.
