QTS Fayetteville / Project Excalibur
FJI source-qualified: four-document gate met, including project-specific government evidence. Qualification evidence and decisions →
Project status: Core campus construction documented; ATL2 East regional review completed; phase-specific approvals and commissioning unverified. Capacity scope: Campus building scope documented; comparable operating IT MW not established. How we verify evidence.
Research update · October 13, 2026
Claim-scoped review: government records, company/transaction disclosures and original reporting. Facts, attributed forecasts and analysis are separated; remaining permit and commercial gaps are explicit.
What changed in this review
Correction: the city’s January denial concerns Crow Holdings/CHI on Highway 85 North. Our earlier attribution to QTS ATL2 East was incorrect. City notice. QTS’s core construction and the separately reviewed east-side proposal retain their own evidence.
Ownership and project entities
QTS develops and markets Fayetteville. Blackstone (BX) funds own the platform; the 2021 take-private was approximately USD 10 billion including debt. QTS Eastwood LLC is the ATL2 East applicant. Fayetteville DC1-2 financing entities have a different disclosed scope; common branding does not establish identical parcels or liabilities. Acquisition completion.
Capital: estimated value versus documented financing
ATL2 East’s March filing gives USD 3 billion estimated build-out value. It is neither a verified equity commitment nor spent capex. April 21 transaction counsel documents a USD 4.6 billion, 5.700% secured-notes offering due 2036 for Fayetteville DC1-2 entities. The bond and build-out estimate must not be added: their phase boundaries and overlap are not reconciled. DCA economic estimate · Transaction-party confirmation. DCD’s April 10 report described refinancing as a use of proceeds; the full offering memorandum and current allocation were not reviewed.
Power and water: what the filing actually establishes
Georgia Power is named for ATL2 East, with connected MW left dependent on customer use. The filing proposes a substation and on-site lines; energization, tariff and committed power remain unknown. Fayette County Water System and city wastewater service are identified with estimated demand of 200,000 and 180,000 gallons/day respectively. These are phase planning figures. Utility planning disclosure. County’s May billing clarification and QTS’s cooling claims are distinct from metered operating consumption.
Construction and regulatory milestones
January 13: ATL2 East filing. March 18: additional information. April 21: recorded regional finding; DRI status completed. None establishes a building permit or occupancy. The city describes 13 buildings and about 6.2 million sq ft; January DCD reporting retained an older 16-building, 6.6-million-sq-ft plan and roughly 250 MW. These differing versions are not reconciled current operating capacity. The March city prohibition requires phase-specific legal review; it does not prove cancellation of the established campus.
Public-company exposure and limits
BX has a documented fund/platform relationship, not a disclosed site earnings contribution. Southern Company (SO) is utility-parent context through Georgia Power; the filing does not establish revenue or utility profit. Microsoft (MSFT) is a tenant identified by AFII bond research; that remains an attributed connection because the lease was not retrieved. Named initial purchasers are transaction intermediaries, not campus owners or confirmed continuing lenders.
Investor risks, opportunity and next evidence
Our analysis: established construction and project financing offer more concrete evidence than a proposal alone. Delivery risk remains in power acceptance, phase permits, financing terms and customer commencement. A utility energization record, occupancy certificate and disclosed lease commencement would strengthen the revenue bridge. Neither financing size nor an estimated tax benefit proves operator earnings. Compare QTS Aurora–Denver and our QTS Phoenix 3 analysis for phase and ownership distinctions.
Compare this project → · Track its catalysts →
← Back to project index- Location
- United States / Georgia / Fayetteville — representative campus-area pin
- Readiness
- Under construction
- Status
- Core campus construction documented; ATL2 East regional review completed; phase-specific approvals and commissioning unverified
- Capacity & scope
- Campus building scope documented; comparable operating IT MW not established
- Named companies
- QTS Data Centers; Blackstone; Georgia Power
- Next milestone
- Verify phase-specific land approvals, building permits, utility service and first customer acceptance
- Reviewed
- October 8, 2026
Phase-specific evidence; approximate locality pin. Reviewed October 8, 2026.
The investment takeaway
Our analysis: QTS Fayetteville adds operator diversity to Georgia coverage beyond Meta, Microsoft and Google. Blackstone exposure is real through QTS ownership, but investors should not convert a large site plan into current earnings. The evidence supports a major campus under development, with an east-side phase still carrying land-use uncertainty.
Campus boundary and duplicate control
This profile treats Project Excalibur and ATL2 East as one connected Fayetteville campus group. DCD says it was unclear whether ATL2 East is an expansion or amendment, so the phase is not counted as a second project. Existing QTS Atlanta and Suwanee facilities remain outside this entry.
Power, water and readiness
The ATL2 East DRI names Georgia Power and leaves peak connected load dependent on customer use. That is provider identification, not an executed service agreement. City and local reporting document water-system issues during construction; those figures are not operating cooling demand. The operator describes closed-loop recirculating cooling, but measured steady-state consumption and utility acceptance remain unverified.
Permitting and public record
Georgia DCA's DRI 4603 records a completed regional-review process. The city’s January 27 denial concerns Crow Holdings/CHI on Highway 85 North, not QTS ATL2 East; the two applications must not be conflated. Neither action is a campus-wide operating authorization. Phase-specific building permits, environmental permits, inspections and occupancy certificates were not established in this review.
Demand and route to revenue
QTS markets the campus for large-scale digital infrastructure, including advanced workloads. Our analysis: demand becomes financially meaningful only through executed customer contracts, delivered power, installed equipment and accepted service. AFII research identifies Microsoft as tenant of the Fayetteville borrower; the original lease, minimum commitment, lease rate and revenue start were not verified in this review.
Company economic roles
QTS is developer/operator. Blackstone (BX) owns QTS, but site-level capital, valuation and earnings are not disclosed. Georgia Power is the named prospective electricity provider for ATL2 East; Southern Company (SO) is parent-company market context. No equipment supplier, GPU vendor or customer award is inferred.
Risks and what would change the assessment
Land-use approval, power delivery, water governance, construction sequencing and customer acceptance are the principal sensitivities. A dated building approval, executed power agreement, utility energization and occupied phase would strengthen the case. A sustained denial, permit appeal, infrastructure curtailment or documented pause would weaken it.
Financial significance
Transaction counsel documents an April 2026 USD 4.6 billion secured-notes offering for Fayetteville DC1-2 entities. ATL2 East separately reports USD 3 billion estimated build-out value; the scopes are not established as additive. Tenant identity is attributed to AFII research, not a reviewed Microsoft lease. Site revenue, returns, actual spending and delivered MW remain unverified. Our analysis: financing can refinance earlier debt rather than represent new capital deployed; billable service still depends on accepted power and completed phases.
Sources and claim verification
Distinct project-specific documents; repeated releases count once. Company claims remain attributed and do not independently establish delivery.
- Georgia Department of Community Affairs · 2026-01-13
DRI 4603 identifies ATL2 East, Fayetteville as submitting government and QTS Eastwood LLC as developer. The regional-review process is recorded complete; that does not mean the data center was approved, built or energized.
Government record → - City of Fayetteville · publication date not established
City identifies one QTS campus, approximately 6.2 million sq ft across 13 buildings. The January 27 denial and March 18 appeal withdrawal on this page concern Crow Holdings/CHI, a separate Highway 85 North proposal, not QTS ATL2 East. City says new data centers were prohibited by Ordinance 26-0-12 on March 5; application to any QTS phase needs its own review.
Government record → - QTS Data Centers · publication date not established
Operator page identifies the Fayetteville campus and closed-loop recirculating cooling. Operator claims do not establish delivered capacity, customer occupancy or project returns.
Company disclosure → - DatacenterDynamics · 2026-01-15
Specialist reporting distinguishes the ATL2 East filing from the larger Project Excalibur campus and notes that whether the filing is an expansion or amendment was unclear.
Independent specialist reporting → - WRDW / Atlanta News First Investigates · 2026-07-13
Local investigative reporting documents construction-water billing and infrastructure questions. Reported water use is not operating cooling demand or evidence of commissioned IT load.
Independent local reporting → - Georgia DCA — ATL2 East initial filing · 2026-01-13
QTS Eastwood LLC proposes 2 million sq ft on approximately 313 acres west of Veterans Parkway. The relationship to earlier Excalibur plans remains unresolved; the filing is not a building permit.
Source document - Georgia DCA — ATL2 East additional filing · 2026-03-18
ATL2 East reports USD 3 billion estimated value at build-out, not committed funding or spending. Georgia Power is the provider; peak connected MW is TBD dependent on customer usage. An on-site substation and transmission lines are proposed. Estimated water demand is 0.20 MGD and wastewater flow 0.18 MGD.
Source document - Blackstone — acquisition completion · 2021-08-31
Affiliates of Blackstone Infrastructure Partners, BREIT and Blackstone Property Partners completed the approximately USD 10 billion QTS acquisition including debt on August 31, 2021. This is platform ownership, not Fayetteville project capital.
Source document - Paul Hastings — initial purchasers’ transaction counsel · 2026-04-21
April 21 transaction announcement documents USD 4.6 billion of 5.700% senior secured notes due 2036 by QTS Fayetteville I DC1-2 and QTS TRS Fayetteville I DCI-2, indirect QualityTech subsidiaries. This is a financing transaction, not proof of equal new construction spending or an ATL2 East phase budget.
Source document - Fayette County — water billing clarification · 2026-05-13
County says meters were not digitally linked during its upgrade; QTS was billed for past use at USD 6.46 per 1,000 gallons and promptly paid. This clarifies construction-water billing; it does not certify steady-state cooling demand.
Source document - Anthropocene Fixed Income Institute — bond analysis · document date not established
Research identifies Microsoft as the Fayetteville borrower’s tenant and describes a further USD 5.4 billion debt proposal. Treat this as attributed research, not a reviewed lease or a confirmed financing close; do not add proposed debt to the April offering.
Source document
Delivery commitments and dated checkpoints
Scoped source check · October 14, 2026. QTS describes construction activity; this is an operator statement, not independent commissioning evidence. The city identifies the QTS campus. DCD’s January 15 report describes an ATL2 East application but leaves expansion-versus-amendment scope unresolved.
No comparable phase-specific commissioning target and delivered IT-load measurement were established by these three documents. Operating IT MW and schedule variance therefore remain unavailable, not zero. Do not combine core-campus and ATL2 East quantities without resolving their boundaries.
QTS campus page · undated · City of Fayetteville · undated current information · DCD · January 15, 2026
Investor takeaway · Our analysis: Construction evidence does not establish customer service or revenue. Phase boundaries, an executed utility delivery record and dated commissioning/customer acceptance are the next evidence needed for a comparable delivery assessment.
Company investor information & quarterly statements
Corporate-disclosure certification held: Supporting publicly traded counterparty financial linkage unverified: SO; Research packet retains a corporate disclosure hold.
Blackstone
Owner of QTS; project-level earnings and capital contribution not disclosed
Official investor & shareholder information · Quarterly financial statements: 2026 Q2
Microsoft
Tenant identified in AFII financial research; original lease and current accepted capacity not reviewed
Official investor & shareholder information · Quarterly financial statements: FY2026 Q4, quarter ended June 30, 2026
QTS Data Centers: Privately held or subsidiary with no standalone listed quarterly statements; do not invent ticker or investor disclosure.
Corporate disclosures provide company-wide context. They do not establish this project’s revenue, spending, profit, ownership share or operating capacity. Disclosure verification records →