Ares Management Corporation has extended its digital infrastructure footprint into the United States by expanding its Ada Infrastructure platform through a series of data center related acquisitions in Virginia. The move positions the alternative investment manager within one of the world’s most active hyperscale data center regions, while also introducing new development activity beyond Northern Virginia’s established core.
Through its Digital Infrastructure business, Ares has acquired a 314-acre parcel in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, via an Ares-managed fund. The site lies along the I-95 South corridor and is planned as a multi-building data center campus to be developed and operated under the Ada Infrastructure brand. Initial development is expected to include two facilities with a combined IT load capacity of 200MW, marking Ada’s first large-scale US development project.
In a separate transaction, an Ares Real Estate fund has acquired two operational data centers in Leesburg, Loudoun County. The facilities collectively span approximately 745,000 square feet and provide 165MW of IT capacity. Completed in 2025, the assets are fully leased to an unnamed investment-grade hyperscale customer under 15-year triple-net agreements, providing long-term contracted revenue. Financial terms and additional transaction details were not disclosed.
The acquisitions reflect a dual-track strategy combining stabilized operating assets in Northern Virginia with greenfield development in adjacent markets. While Loudoun County continues to anchor global hyperscale demand, Spotsylvania County represents an emerging location that has seen limited data center activity historically. Recent proposals and land acquisitions by multiple developers, however, suggest growing interest in the area as capacity constraints intensify closer to Ashburn.
Ares, founded in 1997 and headquartered in California, manages more than $595 billion in assets globally. The firm entered the data center development space more directly following its 2024 acquisition of GLP Capital Partners’ international business, which included the Ada Infrastructure platform. Ada was launched in 2023 and is focused on large-scale hyperscale developments across major global markets.
Beyond the United States, Ada Infrastructure has more than 1GW of planned capacity across cities including London, Tokyo, Osaka, São Paulo, and Rio de Janeiro. Active projects include a 210MW campus in London’s Royal Docks, which received a resolution to grant planning approval in June 2024, and the 31MW Tokyo West 1 campus, where construction commenced in May 2024.
The Virginia transactions were announced as part of two data center investments executed this week by Ares Real Assets funds, underscoring the firm’s continued capital deployment into digital infrastructure amid sustained global demand for hyperscale capacity.
