Digital Realty has reached a significant construction milestone on its second data center development in South Korea, topping out the ICN11 facility in Seoul as the company expands its footprint in one of Asia's most dynamic digital infrastructure markets.
The topping out ceremony, announced this week, marks the completion of the structural framework for the facility, which is now scheduled to become operational by the second half of 2027. The project was first announced in 2021, when Digital Realty acquired a land parcel in Gurae-dong, Gimpo City, in northwest Seoul. The 64MW facility is set to span nearly 1 million square feet (92,903 square meters), making it a substantial addition to the company's regional capacity. Originally, the facility had been targeted to come online by the first half of 2023, but the timeline was subsequently adjusted.
In a statement, the company framed the milestone in broader terms: "The topping out isn't just a construction milestone; it's a powerful symbol of what happens when incredible teams come together to build something bigger than any one of us could achieve alone."
Digital Realty is collaborating with a consortium of construction and engineering firms on the project, including DPR Construction, DL E&C Co., Turner & Townsend, and Heerim Architects & Planners.
The new development complements Digital Realty's existing presence in Seoul, where it currently operates ICN10, also known as Digital Seoul 1. That ten-story facility, announced in 2019 and brought online in 2022, offers up to 12MW of IT capacity across 132,000 square feet (12,265 square meters) of floorspace. The substantial capacity increase represented by ICN11 underscores the accelerating demand for data center infrastructure in South Korea, driven by cloud adoption, AI workloads, and the country's position as a regional technology hub.
The topping out of ICN11 signals continued confidence in Seoul's data center market, where competition among domestic and international operators has intensified in recent years. As hyperscalers and enterprises seek to secure capacity in tier-one Asian markets, Digital Realty's expanded presence positions the company to capture growing demand for high-density, scalable infrastructure in the region.