Sabey Data Centers Marks 'Going Vertical' Milestone at SDC Umatilla With National Real Estate Advisors Backing

SEATTLE — Sabey Data Centers held a "Going Vertical" ceremony on July 15 to mark the start of steel erection at SDC Umatilla, its new multi-tenant data center campus in Umatilla, Oregon, the company announced July 22. The milestone signals the project's transition from years of planning, engineering and site preparation into the visible phase of vertical construction.

The ceremony drew local and state leaders, utility partners, construction and design teams, contractors and Sabey leadership to the site in Northeast Oregon's Columbia Cloud Corridor, a data center cluster along the Columbia River that has attracted operators seeking abundant power, cooler climates and lower operating costs relative to primary coastal markets.

Project Overview and Design Intent

SDC Umatilla is designed to serve hyperscale, enterprise and colocation customers seeking resilient infrastructure, network connectivity and room to scale. Sabey describes the campus as positioned to meet accelerating demand for cloud computing and artificial intelligence workloads. Specific details on total IT load capacity, square footage, building count and phasing have not been publicly released.

A closed-loop cooling system is incorporated into the campus design, a feature that state and local officials highlighted as an example of responsible resource stewardship. The approach addresses water-use concerns that have drawn scrutiny toward data center development in some jurisdictions, and aligns with ESG requirements from institutional capital sources and cloud tenants. Oregon's access to hydro-based electricity further supports the project's sustainability profile.

"Watching the first steel go up is always a significant moment because it turns years of planning, engineering and hard work into something you can finally see," said Tim Mirick, President of Sabey Data Centers. "We are excited to build here, excited to become part of this community, and committed to serving our customers and this region for many years to come."

National Real Estate Advisors' Role

SDC Umatilla is part of a broader joint venture between Sabey Data Centers and National Real Estate Advisors. Through the Sabey DataCenter Properties venture, National Real Estate Advisors holds a minority equity interest and has committed $100 million to support Sabey's data center portfolio and expansion into new markets. The institutional backing positions Sabey as a capitalized developer-operator as it pursues growth beyond its Pacific Northwest core.

"At National, we focus on investments supported by strong fundamentals, experienced teams and the potential for long-term value creation," said TJ Hofheimer, Managing Director, Portfolio & Asset Management at National Real Estate Advisors. "We believe SDC Umatilla reflects those qualities, and we appreciate the collaboration among Sabey, local leaders and community stakeholders that has helped advance the project to this stage."

Sabey Data Centers is a subsidiary of Sabey Corporation, a privately held, Seattle-based commercial real estate developer active in data centers, medical facilities, office and mixed-use properties. The integrated developer-operator model gives the company in-house construction capabilities.

Community and Economic Impact

State Representative Bobby Levy offered remarks at the ceremony, framing the project as an economic investment in a rural region. "The construction of this new data center is an exciting investment in Northeast Oregon and a strong vote of confidence in our communities," Levy said. "Facilities like this keep our hospitals, schools, and small businesses connected while creating new economic opportunities. I'm especially pleased that Sabey's use of a closed-loop cooling system demonstrates that innovation and responsible resource stewardship can go hand in hand. We're proud to welcome Sabey Data Centers to Northeast Oregon."

Sabey said hundreds of skilled tradespeople will be engaged over the coming months as vertical construction advances, with local businesses expected to support the work. The company characterized the Going Vertical milestone as the beginning of a long-term presence in Umatilla and Northeast Oregon.

Market Context: Secondary Corridors and Data Center Demand

The SDC Umatilla milestone comes as powered data center capacity in major markets has been effectively fully absorbed or pre-leased, driven by hyperscale cloud providers and large enterprise tenants building out AI training and inference infrastructure. That supply-demand imbalance has pushed operators and institutional capital toward secondary, power-rich corridors where transmission access, land availability and utility costs remain favorable — conditions the Columbia Cloud Corridor is positioned to offer.

The broad stakeholder group assembled for the Going Vertical ceremony — including utility partners and state officials — reflects the integrated entitlement and community engagement process that has become increasingly important as data center projects face permitting delays, power queue backlogs and community opposition in some markets.

Sources

Sabey Data Centers — SDC Umatilla Going Vertical Announcement (July 22, 2026)