The quarter closes on 30 September and the city posts some records late. These figures were collected on 28 September 2026. They will be checked again after 7 October, and any change will be listed under revisions at the foot of this page.
What changed this quarter
- QTS's third Aurora building cleared its shell permit. The city issued the core-and-shell permit for DC3 on 28 July 2026, fifteen months after QTS applied. Within three weeks QTS filed two fit-out jobs for the same building, declared at $105 million and $175 million. A fit-out permit is the work that turns an empty shell into data halls.
- DC1 is being rebuilt from the inside. QTS filed two jobs on 1 July, both titled 22.5 MW, one for the tenant fit-out and one it labels ESB. On 26 August it filed a "3MW LC conversion" declared at $27.2 million. The filing does not say what LC stands for, so we do not guess.
- Five capacity jobs in one quarter, against one or two before. In each of the previous five quarters Aurora saw one or two new buildings, data hall fit-outs or power jobs. This quarter it saw five. All five are QTS, on one campus. That is one operator building out, not a market-wide surge.
Coverage and cutoff
This report covers the City of Aurora and nothing else. It is not a Denver metro report. Building permits are not collected for Denver, Douglas County, Broomfield or unincorporated Adams and Arapahoe counties. State air permits are collected metro-wide, and only those at Aurora addresses appear here.
- Records read: the city's building permit file and its development application file, both published on the city's open data server; the city's certificates of occupancy, for the date a building is finished; and the Colorado Air Pollution Control Division's permit documents for backup generators.
- How records are found: a permit is included when its description says data center or data hall, names QTS, or uses QTS's campus code DEN1. We searched the city's live file for twenty other operator names and codes before publishing. That check found the DEN1 gap, which is now closed. A data center filed under a codename that uses none of these words would still be missed.
- Dates: every record held carries a filing date from the city. Issue dates are the city's own.
- Collection cutoff: 28 September 2026.
Six quarters of Aurora data center permits
| Quarter | Pieces of work filed | Of which new capacity or buildings | Permit records filed | Permits issued | State air permit documents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 (provisional) | 12 | 5 | 23 | 4 | 0 |
| Q2 2026 | 8 | 2 | 13 | 3 | 0 |
| Q1 2026 | 7 | 2 | 14 | 3 | 1 |
| Q4 2025 | 9 | 1 | 14 | 1 | 1 |
| Q3 2025 | 6 | 2 | 9 | 6 | 1 |
| Q2 2025 | 9 | 2 | 16 | 3 | 0 |
A piece of work is one job, however many records the city opens for it: Aurora usually logs an online intake and then the permit itself, with the same declared value. New capacity or buildings means a new building, a data hall fit-out, power work or a planning case. Fire systems, signs, trailers and plan revisions are counted in the first column only. 194 Aurora records held, 0 of them without a filing date. Generated 29 September 2026.
Every piece of work filed in Q3 2026
Aurora usually opens two records for one job: an online intake, then the permit itself a few days later with the same declared value. Each row below is one job, with every city record behind it linked. Declared value is the figure the applicant gave the city for the work. It is not a price for space, and the rows are not added together.
| Filed | Building | The work | Type | Declared value | City records |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 July 2026 | DC1 | QTS DEN1 DC1, 22.5 MW ESB | Data hall fit-out | $35.8 million | 26-2636081-000-00, 26-2648292-000-00 |
| 1 July 2026 | DC1 | QTS DEN1 DC1, 22.5 MW TFO | Data hall fit-out | $19.3 million | 26-2636052-000-00, 26-2648528-000-00 |
| 14 July 2026 | DC3 | QTS DEN1 DC3 - Tenant Fit Out | Data hall fit-out | $105 million | 26-2639015-000-00, 26-2639673-000-00 |
| 16 July 2026 | DC1 | QTS DEN1 DC1 - Office Fit Out - Tenant Improvement | Office and support | $1.8 million | 26-2639872-000-00, 26-2640000-000-00 |
| 22 July 2026 | DC2 | DEN1-DC2 DATA CENTER - NEW BUILDING - STORAGE WAREHOUSE AND GUARD SHACK, GATING SYSTEM -... | Plan revision | Not stated | 26-2641249-000-00, 26-2641514-000-00, 26-2648045-000-00 |
| 4 August 2026 | DC2 | DEN1 DC2 Fit Out Tenant Build Out This Projects Is A Build Out Of Six "White Boxes". Thre... | Plan revision | Not stated | 26-2644423-000-00 |
| 10 August 2026 | DC3 | QTS DEN1 DC3 - Build Out | Data hall fit-out | $175 million | 26-2645676-000-00, 26-2646546-000-00 |
| 10 August 2026 | DC2 | QTS DEN1 DC2, 60 MW Tenant Fit Out Revision | Plan revision | $105 million | 26-2645660-000-00, 26-2656017-000-00 |
| 11 August 2026 | DC1 | QTS DEN1- DC1 - Partial Demo & Reinstallation | Fire and life safety | $530,300 | 26-2645780-000-00, 26-2645800-000-00 |
| 24 August 2026 | DC2 | QTS DEN 1 DC2 ESB | Fire and life safety | Not stated | 26-2513934-000-06 |
| 26 August 2026 | DC1 | DEN1 DC1 - 3 MW LC Conversion Tenant Improvement | Data hall fit-out | $27.2 million | 26-2649708-000-00, 26-2650427-000-00 |
| 10 September 2026 Issued 22 September 2026 | 23951 E 14TH AVE, Aurora, CO | QTS Trailer City | Construction trailers | $60,000 | 26-2653108-000-00, 26-2653946-000-00 |
Permits the city issued in Q3 2026
Approvals in the quarter, whenever they were applied for. The DC3 core-and-shell permit is the one that matters.
| Issued | Applied for | The permit | Type | Declared value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 July 2026 | 3 June 2026 | QTS DEN1 DC1 6 MW Tenant Improvement - Fit Out Data Hall Interior Remodel | Data hall fit-out | $41.1 million |
| 28 July 2026 | 8 April 2025 | DEN1-DC3 Storage Use Building - Core And Shell | New building | $146 million |
| 20 August 2026 | 3 June 2026 | QTS DEN1 DC1 6 MW White Box With Some Exterior Work - Data Hall Remodel | Data hall fit-out | $11.4 million |
| 22 September 2026 | 14 September 2026 | QTS Trailer City | Construction trailers | $60,000 |
State air permits for Aurora data centers
A data center needs a state air permit before it can run its backup generators, so this record often shows a building before the city's permits do. It is also the only public record here for Amazon's DEN-22, JPMorgan's Project Sycamore and Flexential's DEN03, none of which appear in the city's permits under a name we search for.
| Date | Facility, as the state names it | What happened | Permit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 January 2026 | Flexential - Den03 Data Center | Application received | 26AR0257 |
| 17 November 2025 | Amazon Data Services - Den-22 | Application received | 19AR0178 |
| 8 July 2025 | Quality Technology Services - QTS DEN1 | Modification application received | 22AR0210 |
| 7 March 2025 | Quality Technology Services - QTS DEN1 | Construction permit issued | 22AR0210 |
| 11 July 2024 | Jpmorgan Chase - Project Sycamore Aurora | Construction permit issued | 18AR0855 |
| 3 November 2023 | Amazon Data Services - Den-22 | Construction permit issued | 19AR0178 |
| 25 July 2023 | Quality Technology Services - QTS DEN1 | Construction permit issued | 22AR0210 |
| 28 April 2023 | Jpmorgan Chase - Project Sycamore Aurora | Modification application received | 18AR0855 |
| 2 February 2023 | Haras Developments Llc- Apa-50 | Modification application received | 19AR0178 |
| 1 April 2022 | QTS Aurora Llc - QTS DEN1 | Application received | 22AR0210 |
| 11 August 2020 | Haras Developments Llc- Apa-50 | Construction permit issued | 19AR0178 |
| 5 March 2020 | Jpmorgan Chase - Project Sycamore Aurora | Construction permit issued | 18AR0855 |
| 23 May 2019 | Haras Developments Llc- Apa-50 | Construction permit issued | 19AR0178 |
| 20 February 2019 | Haras Developments Llc- Apa-50 | Application received | 19AR0178 |
| 9 August 2018 | Jpmorgan Chase - Project Sycamore Aurora | Application received | Not stated |
Colorado Air Pollution Control Division documents at Aurora addresses, from the state's public records system. None fall in Q3 2026. A generator permit rating is backup plant, not the capacity a customer can use, so no rating is shown as megawatts of space. The state's document links carry a token it reissues on every search; if one has expired, search the permit number at the Colorado records portal.
Buildings the city has certified as finished
| Certificate of occupancy | Address | City record |
|---|---|---|
| 18 July 2024 | 23505 E 6TH AVE, Aurora, CO | Certificate of Occupancy issued 07/18/2024 |
| 5 July 2024 | 1160 N GUN CLUB RD, Aurora, CO | Certificate of Occupancy issued 07/05/2024 |
| 3 July 2024 | 1184 N GUN CLUB RD, Aurora, CO | Certificate of Occupancy issued 07/03/2024 |
| 3 July 2024 | 1164 N GUN CLUB RD, Aurora, CO | Certificate of Occupancy issued 07/03/2024 |
The city records one certificate per address, so a date marks a building being finished, never an individual data hall. A certificate is listed only at an address that already carries data center permits, and only when it is dated after the first of them.
What it means for a buyer
- A fit-out permit is not available space. It records that data halls are being built. Whether any of that space is uncommitted is a question only QTS can answer, and it changes week to week.
- The timing question is DC3. A building with its shell permit issued and two large fit-out jobs on file is the most likely source of new Aurora capacity in 2027. If you need Denver-area space in that window, ask QTS what DC3 delivers and when.
- Outside QTS, the Aurora pipeline is early. Flexential applied for an air permit for a facility it calls DEN03 in January 2026, and Amazon applied for a new DEN-22 permit in November 2025. Neither has a decision on the state record yet, and neither has a city building permit under a name we search for. The only other active city case is a site plan.
What to watch next quarter
- Whether the city issues the two DC3 fit-out permits. The first carries a note that it cannot be released until a construction permit for the building is issued. That note was written before the shell permit issued on 28 July, and the record does not yet show it cleared.
- Whether the DC2 60 MW fit-out revision, refiled on 22 September, is approved.
- Whether the state issues Flexential's DEN03 air permit (applied for 30 January 2026) and Amazon's DEN-22 permit (applied for 17 November 2025).
- Whether Trident Data Center at Windler, a site plan for two data center buildings of about 860,000 square feet on 108 acres, makes the third submission the city has been waiting for since August 2025.
Sources and revisions
Every row links to the City of Aurora record it came from. Counts are generated from those records, so anyone can check a figure by opening the links. When this edition is finalised its figures are frozen: a later correction is added below with its date and reason, and the original figure stays visible.
Colocation Scout is run by a colocation sourcing consultant; the permit data is public and every row links to its filing. How we publish these reports.
Revisions: none yet.