密苏里州堪萨斯城市中心拟建20层垂直数据中心面临成本与邻近性权衡

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill rendering of proposed data center

"We are not arguing that every data center belongs downtown. We are arguing this one does, and we are paying a construction premium to prove it," says Steve Austin, founder and CEO of Revitalization Unlimited.Image courtesy of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) / City of Kansas City CompassKC Portal“我们并不是说每座数据中心都适合建在市中心。我们是说这一座适合，而且我们愿意支付建设溢价来证明这一点，”Revitalization Unlimited 创始人兼首席执行官 Steve Austin 表示。图片由 Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) / 堪萨斯城 CompassKC 门户提供

A proposed 20-story data center tower in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, offers an alternative to sprawling suburban campuses: stack computing, power, and cooling on a small urban parcel and leverage dense, carrier-rich connectivity. But stacking infrastructure vertically introduces additional costs and operational complexity, and the case for a downtown address depends on whether proximity and network diversity justify the construction premium.密苏里州堪萨斯城市中心一座拟议的 20 层数据中心塔楼，为取代蔓延扩张的郊区园区提供了另一种选择：在狭小的城市地块上堆叠计算、电力与制冷，并利用密集、运营商资源丰富的连接。但垂直堆叠基础设施会带来额外成本和运营复杂性，而选择市中心地址的理由取决于邻近性和网络多样性是否足以证明这笔建设溢价合理。

Designed by storied Chicago architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) for developer Revitalization Unlimited, the facility would occupy approximately 0.23 acres. The project remains subject to approval; a related city development plan ordinance is listed as on hold until October 13.该设施由知名芝加哥建筑事务所 Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) 为开发商 Revitalization Unlimited 设计，占地约 0.23 英亩。项目仍有待批准；一项相关的城市开发计划法令被列为暂缓至 10 月 13 日。

Why Proximity Matters for Urban Sites为何邻近性对城市场址至关重要

Steve Austin, founder and CEO of Revitalization Unlimited, argues that inference workloads and dense network interconnections support a central location.Revitalization Unlimited 创始人兼首席执行官 Steve Austin 认为，推理工作负载和密集的网络互联支持选址在中心位置。

“Inference is the model actually answering a user, and it has to happen near that user because latency matters,” he told Data Center Knowledge.“推理实际上是模型在回答用户，它必须发生在该用户附近，因为延迟至关重要，”他告诉Data Center Knowledge。

Austin pointed to nearby carrier infrastructure, planned diverse fiber entrances, and a carrier-neutral design as advantages for customers that value fast connections to users and other networks. Whether that proximity is worth a premium depends on the workload.Austin 指出，邻近的运营商基础设施、规划中的多样化光纤入口以及运营商中立设计，对于重视与用户及其他网络快速连接的客户而言是优势。这种邻近性是否值得支付溢价，取决于工作负载。

Luis Fernandes, IDC senior research manager for cloud and data centers within enterprise infrastructure, cited high-speed financial transactions as an example where physical proximity can matter.IDC 企业基础设施领域云与数据中心高级研究经理 Luis Fernandes 以高速金融交易为例，说明物理邻近性可能十分重要。

“It is not uncommon for stock traders to seek addresses closest to the actual stock exchange servers where transactions are processed in order to gain a few fractions of a second in any given transaction,” Fernandes told Data Center Knowledge.“股票交易员寻求尽可能靠近处理交易的实际交易所服务器的地址，以便在任意一笔交易中争取到几分之一秒，这种情况并不少见，”Fernandes 告诉Data Center Knowledge。

He added that the economics depend on the premium for building vertically.他补充说，经济性如何取决于垂直建设的溢价。

Michael Martin, managing director of data center operations at JLL, said customers generally approach location decisions based on their business requirements rather than a preference for downtown.JLL 数据中心运营董事总经理 Michael Martin 表示，客户通常根据业务需求而非对市中心的偏好来做出选址决策。

“The reality is that clients don’t come to us asking for a downtown data center,” he said. “They’re usually trying to solve a business problem.”“实际情况是，客户来找我们时并不是指定要一座市中心数据中心，”他说。“他们通常是在试图解决一个业务问题。”

Martin sees opportunities in financial services, telecommunications, content delivery, and inference at urban sites, while large AI training clusters typically favor abundant land and power.Martin 认为城市场址在金融服务、电信、内容分发和推理领域存在机会，而大型 AI 训练集群通常更青睐充足的土地和电力。

The Cost of Building Upward垂直建设的成本

Austin estimated total development costs at $183 million, or roughly $1,300 per square foot, acknowledging that it exceeds the per-square-foot cost of a suburban facility. Much of the expenditure would go toward mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection systems – about $107 million of the estimated $167 million in hard construction costs.Austin 估计总开发成本为 $183 million，即约每平方英尺 $1,300；他承认这高于郊区设施的每平方英尺成本。大部分支出将投向机械、电气、给排水和消防系统——在估算为 $167 million 的施工硬成本中，约 $107 million 将用于这些系统。

The proposed building would support 24 MW of IT load. Only two of its 20 floors would house computing equipment, according to Austin, with approximately 109,000 of its 141,000 gross square feet devoted to mechanical space. Those proportions illustrate the trade-off: land saved at ground level must be recaptured by stacking substantial supporting infrastructure above it.Austin称，拟建建筑将支持24 MW的IT负载。其20层中只有两层将放置计算设备，141,000总平方英尺中约有109,000平方英尺用于机械空间。这些比例说明了这种权衡：在地面层节省的土地，必须通过在其上方堆叠大量配套基础设施来补回。

Fernandes said equipment placement in vertical builds creates practical challenges. Most vendors design power and cooling equipment for horizontal placement, with very little consideration for vertical deployment, he said.Fernandes表示，在垂直建筑中布置设备会带来实际挑战。他说，大多数供应商设计电力和冷却设备时针对的是水平布置，很少考虑垂直部署。

Weight, freight elevator dimensions, and crane access all matter. Replacing equipment may require coordination with surrounding streets, while pumping cooling water introduces demands different from those in a conventional commercial tower.重量、货梯尺寸和起重机通道都很重要。更换设备可能需要与周边街道协调，而泵送冷却水所带来的需求也不同于传统商业塔楼。

Smaller Physical, Not Necessarily Smaller Footprint物理规模更小，并不一定意味着占地更小

Fernandes cautioned against assuming reduced land consumption equates to a smaller overall environmental footprint.Fernandes警告不要想当然地认为减少土地消耗就等于减小整体环境足迹。

“There is no data to suggest that a vertical build will impact the overall environmental footprint,” he said.“没有数据表明垂直建造会影响整体环境足迹，”他说。

Austin said the Kansas City design targets a power usage effectiveness (PUE) of 1.25 and would use 30 MW of on-site Bloom fuel cells as the primary electricity source. These are proposed performance and operating characteristics.Austin表示，堪萨斯城设计的目标电能使用效率（PUE）为1.25，并将使用30 MW的现场Bloom燃料电池作为主要电力来源。这些均为拟议的性能和运行特性。

Self-generation also requires examining the fuel supply. Austin identified natural gas as one of the facility’s expected operating expenses, meaning that independence from the electricity grid should not be confused with the absence of environmental impacts.自行发电也需要核查燃料供应。Austin将天然气列为该设施预期运营支出之一，这意味着不应将脱离电网独立等同于没有环境影响。

Cooling claims likewise need precision. Fernandes questioned the description of the project as a closed loop while also noting that it includes evaporative cooling, which consumes water. Cities and prospective customers will need operating figures to evaluate those trade-offs.冷却方面的说法同样需要准确。Fernandes质疑将该项目描述为闭环，同时指出项目包含蒸发冷却，而这会消耗水。城市和潜在客户需要运营数据来评估这些权衡。

Looking beyond the Kansas City proposal, Martin sees potential in converting suitable existing buildings for smaller or edge workloads.除堪萨斯城提案之外，Martin认为改造合适的既有建筑以承载较小规模或边缘工作负载具有潜力。

“Reusing existing structures, utility connections, and supporting infrastructure can reduce waste while also improving project economics and speed to market,” he said. That case depends on a building’s suitability for added power, cooling, and operational demands.“复用既有建筑、公用设施连接和配套基础设施可以减少浪费，同时提高项目经济效益并加快上市速度，”他说。这种方案是否可行，取决于建筑能否适应增加的电力、冷却和运行需求。

What Communities Gain – and Expect – in Return社区能获得什么，又期待怎样的回报

Austin emphasized tax revenue and local spending while acknowledging limited permanent staffing.Austin强调税收和本地支出，同时承认永久人员配置有限。

“On-site operations staff is a couple of dozen,” he said. “The rest are technicians, contractors, and service firms the facility pays continuously, plus the jobs supported by their spending.”“现场运营人员有二十多人，”他说。“其余的是该设施持续付费的技术人员、承包商和服务公司，再加上这些支出所支撑的就业岗位。”

He said the developer is seeking no tax abatement and is prepared to accept binding conditions covering active ground-floor space, noise, generator operating hours, construction apprenticeships, and public reporting.他表示，开发商不寻求税收减免，并准备接受具有约束力的条件，内容涵盖底层活跃空间、噪音、发电机运行时间、建筑施工学徒培训以及公开报告。

Fernandes argued community benefits should extend beyond tax receipts, suggesting partnerships with trade schools and facilities such as libraries or daycare services.费尔南德斯认为，社区收益不应仅限于税收，建议与职业学校以及图书馆或日托服务等设施建立合作关系。

“[Make] the data center a part of the community instead of something forced upon a community,” Fernandes noted.“[让]数据中心成为社区的一部分，而不是强加给社区的东西，”费尔南德斯指出。

Designing for Flexibility and Reuse面向灵活性与重复利用的设计

Long-term usefulness is another consideration. Fernandes noted older facilities can be retrofitted or reassigned to less demanding workloads, although a tower’s physical constraints would need to be assessed.长期实用性是另一个考虑因素。费尔南德斯指出，较旧的设施可以进行改造或重新分配给要求较低的工作负载，但需要评估塔楼的物理限制。

Martin said adaptability should guide design decisions as computing requirements change.马丁表示，随着计算需求发生变化，适应性应指导设计决策。

“The facilities that remain valuable over the long term are the ones that can adapt,” he said. “That means flexibility in power distribution, cooling architecture, structural capacity, and overall building design.”“长期保持价值的设施是那些能够适应的设施，”他说。“这意味着配电、制冷架构、结构承载力和整体建筑设计都要具备灵活性。”

The broader test is whether a specific location provides enough operational and public value to justify the additional complexity. Austin maintains that his proposal meets that test.更广泛的检验在于，特定地点能否提供足够的运营价值和公共价值，以证明随之增加的复杂性是合理的。奥斯汀坚称他的提案通过了这一检验。

“We are not arguing that every data center belongs downtown,” he said. “We are arguing this one does, and we are paying a construction premium to prove it.”“我们并不是说每个数据中心都应该建在市中心，”他说。“我们是说这一个应该，而且我们正在支付建设溢价来证明这一点。”

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Nathan Eddy covers data center trends and technologies across multiple industries. A graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, he is also a documentary filmmaker specializing in architecture and urban planning. He currently lives in Berlin, Germany.内森·埃迪报道多个行业的数据中心趋势与技术。他毕业于西北大学梅迪尔新闻学院，同时也是一名专注于建筑与城市规划题材的纪录片制作人，目前居住在德国柏林。