"The land around Hassayampa Ranch, 50 miles west of Phoenix, is dotted with saguaro cacti and home to coyotes, jackrabbits, and rattlesnakes. Its few hundred human residents were largely drawn by the tranquility and clear skies for stargazing. But several of the biggest names in Silicon Valley are suddenly very interested in what happens on this serene stretch of desert."
"At a weekday morning hearing earlier this month, nearly an hour and a half away in downtown Phoenix, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors approved an amendment that would allow for the industrial rezoning of a 2,000-acre property at Hassayampa Ranch. The developer, Anita Verma-Lallian, bought this vast tract of desert in May 2025 in a $51 million deal backed by heavyweight tech investors including the billionaire venture capitalist, podcast cohost, and Trump mega-donor Chamath Palihapitiya."
The land around Hassayampa Ranch, 50 miles west of Phoenix, features saguaro cacti and wildlife and houses a few hundred residents drawn by tranquility and clear night skies for stargazing. A 2,000-acre parcel at Hassayampa Ranch was approved for industrial rezoning by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to accommodate a large AI data center project. Developer Anita Verma-Lallian purchased the tract in May 2025 for $51 million with backing from prominent tech investors including Chamath Palihapitiya. The project aims to host energy-intensive GPU racks and has attracted interest from multiple hyperscalers such as Meta, Google, or OpenAI.
Read at Fortune
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