Texas-based Data Journey has acquired the former Bed Bath & Beyond data center in western North Carolina’s tech-centric Catawba County, where its onsite team has converted the facility from a purpose-built enterprise data center into a colocation facility.  

Located amongst major deployments for Google, Apple, Meta and Microsoft, the re-branded Catawba County Data Center will service local and regional clients as a fully-fledge colocation center, according to Matt Wells, co-founder of Data Journey.

“We’ve created a first-class colocation center with significant space and power capacity for future deployments as well as expansion within the current structure and acreage for additional builds,” Wells adds.

Built in 2013 at a cost of $36.8 million, the 47,500 square-foot Tier III data center, now wholly-owned by Data Journey, offers 9,500 square feet of immediately-available raised floor space, and the ability to expand capacity to provide over 3 MW of critical load. Additional shell space in the center is already prepared for further expansion and with the available acreage a longer-range plan for up to 100 MW of power generation to the site is being explored, according to Todd Smith, commercial advisor to the project.

With the facility’s conversion to a colocation facility complete, Data Journey has started filling out Catawba County Data Center’s tenant roster with the likes of Sourceability, a global distributor of electronic components in support of digitalizing the supply chain, and two Charlotte-based IT firms, 10X Consulting Group and XOR Group. “We have chosen Data Journey as our primary data center and will be consolidating in Catawba County over the next 18 months,” says Rick Sanford, director of professional services of 10X Consulting Group. 

Corey Batrous, vice president information technology at Sourceability, adds, “The center provides us with the scalability and infrastructure we need to support our growing operations, right in the heart of one of the nation’s most tech-focused regions.”

Catawba County Data Center’s onsite management team includes Tracy Sapp and Charles McPherson, both of whom managed the site for several years prior to its conversion.

The western North Carolina facility is Data Journey’s second acquisition since the company was founded in 2024. The company’s first center, a former nuclear bomb shelter known as the Westland Bunker, is located north of Houston where it provided 100% uptime and access during Hurricanes Ike, Harvey and Beryl in addition to 100% uptime during Winter Storm Uri in February 2021.  

Dr. Ishnella Kaur Azad, co-founder of Data Journey, adds the transformation of Catawba County Data Center aligns with the company’s strategic plan to invest in mid-scale data center infrastructure and positioning those assets for future growth. Ultimately, the company aims to acquire up to the 30 data centers across the country. 

“With more than 500 investors, we’re on sound financial footing to expand our footprint in strategic locations across the country,” says Dr. Azad. “We’re certainly open to welcoming new investors who share our vision and want to be part of this exciting growth journey.”