Amazon Acquires Pasadena Property in Strategic Shift to Own Data Center Assets

Amazon Acquires Pasadena Property in Strategic Shift to Own Data Center Assets

December 4, 2025

In a significant move underscoring the intense competition for data center infrastructure, Amazon Web Services (AWS) has acquired a key property in Pasadena, California, for over $78 million. This purchase is part of a broader, aggressive national strategy where the cloud giant is increasingly prioritizing property ownership and ground-up development over traditional leasing to secure its expansion and power needs.

The transaction involves a 164,000-square-foot building on an 8-acre site at 2964 Bradley Street, previously a data center for telecommunications firm EarthLink. Real estate professionals indicate the site will primarily support AWS's cloud operations, with potential for office use as the company's national acquisition strategy evolves. Amazon declined to comment on the deal.

This acquisition in the Los Angeles area follows Amazon's recent $700 million purchase of 188 acres in Prince William County, Virginia, highlighting a coast-to-coast push. According to CoStar’s senior director of market analytics for Los Angeles, Jesse Gundersheim, “Amazon appears to have slowed leasing activity and shifted toward ground-up development and property acquisitions to grow its local footprint.” He noted that AWS has purchased at least 20 properties nationwide over the past two years for a combined $2.5 billion, mostly raw land for development.

The shift comes amid a critical shortage of data center space. Recent JLL data shows North American vacancy rates have fallen to a record low of 2.3%, even as total inventory reached an unprecedented capacity of 15.5 gigawatts. Amazon itself has been a major driver of this demand, adding more than 3.8 gigawatts of data center capacity over the past year and expecting another gigawatt to come online by year-end—enough to power approximately 750,000 homes simultaneously.

Pasadena presents a unique value proposition for such investments. The city operates its own water and power department, simplifying the process for securing the substantial energy required for high-density computing and artificial intelligence workloads. Furthermore, its ecosystem is anchored by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), a global leader in AI and quantum research, where Amazon already operates a 21,000-square-foot AWS Center for Quantum Computing.

“We have a top-10 university on the planet in Caltech in Pasadena, and Caltech is extremely focused on AI and deep quantum,” said JLL Vice President Hunter Brown. “When you have Caltech in your city, it’s a natural magnet for big companies to come knock on the door.” The city's Hastings Ranch district has become a hub for corporate R&D centers, including those for General Motors and BYD, attracted by the available power and concentration of tech talent.

The Pasadena deal, priced at approximately $480 per square foot, more than doubles the property's 2021 sale price. The flexible asset, currently partially occupied by tenants like apparel retailer Max Studios through 2027, gives Amazon control over its conversion timeline. This pivot to ownership in power-rich locations like Pasadena and Vernon, California, signifies a fundamental change in how cloud hyperscalers are securing the critical real estate needed to support the next generation of AI and cloud services.

Source: costar