Meta Seeks 3 Billion in Loans for Project Walleye Ohio Data Center Including Building and Power Assets
Meta is seeking 3 billion dollars in loans for Project Walleye, its massive Ohio data center, in a first-of-its-kind financing structure where lenders fund both the building and power assets.
Meta is seeking 3 billion dollars in loans for Project Walleye, its massive Ohio data center, in a first-of-its-kind financing structure where lenders fund both the building and power assets.
The Deal
- Project: Project Walleye (Meta Ohio data center campus)
- Loan amount: 3 billion dollars
- Structure: Lenders fund both construction AND power infrastructure
- Innovation: First deal of its kind combining real estate and power financing
Why This Structure Is Unprecedented
Traditionally, data center financing separates:
- Real estate: Building construction funded through commercial mortgages
- Power: Energy infrastructure funded through separate utility agreements
- Meta approach: Bundling both into single loan package
Advantages
- Lower cost: Single loan may achieve better terms than two separate deals
- Simplified structure: One set of lenders, one set of covenants
- Risk sharing: Lenders share both construction and energy risk
- Scale: 3 billion signals massive data center ambitions
The Scale of Project Walleye
Meta Ohio data center represents one of the largest AI infrastructure projects:
- Power demand: Estimated 2-4 GW (enough to power a major city)
- Investment: Total project cost likely exceeds 10 billion
- Timeline: Multi-year construction and deployment
- Strategic importance: Core to Meta AI training and inference capabilities
Broader Context
Meta AI infrastructure buildout is accelerating:
- 350 billion+ committed: Total AI infrastructure investment announced
- Multiple sites: Beyond Ohio -- plans for campuses nationwide
- Nuclear power: Meta exploring nuclear deals for data center energy
- Competition: Racing Google, Microsoft, Amazon for AI compute dominance
Industry Impact
- Financing precedent: Success could reshape data center funding models
- Power markets: Massive data center demand transforming utility planning
- Ohio economy: Project Walleye would be transformative for the region
The deal was first reported by the Financial Times.
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