Patmos Secures Record $100M Green Loan for KC AI Data Center

KANSAS CITY, MO – January 12, 2026 – In a landmark deal that fuses cutting-edge technology with sustainable finance, Patmos Hosting Inc. has secured a $100 million loan to complete the transformation of the historic former Kansas City Star building into a state-of-the-art AI Campus. The financing, provided by PACE Loan Group (PLG), represents the largest Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) loan in Missouri's history, setting a powerful precedent for funding the immense energy needs of the artificial intelligence revolution.

The loan will accelerate the development of the 421,112-square-foot downtown property into a high-density data hub, ultimately providing 35 megawatts of power tailored for GPU-intensive AI and high-performance computing (HPC) workloads. This move solidifies Kansas City’s burgeoning reputation as a key node in the nation's tech infrastructure and highlights an innovative solution to one of the industry's most pressing challenges: power consumption.

A New Blueprint for Green Tech Financing

The novel use of a C-PACE loan for an AI data center of this magnitude marks a significant evolution in green financing. C-PACE is a mechanism that allows property owners to fund energy efficiency and renewable energy upgrades with long-term, fixed-rate financing repaid as an assessment on the property's tax bill. This structure makes it ideal for large-scale capital improvements with long-term payoffs.

“C-PACE made a lot of sense for this renovation. Many of the conversion costs were eligible, and the long-duration capital is well aligned with Patmos’s business plan,” said Rafi Golberstein, CEO and founder of PACE Loan Group. “Our funds complemented the borrower’s significant investment to create an efficient, turnkey AI data center in a city center.”

The deal's significance extends beyond its record-breaking size. As the AI industry's demand for electricity and cooling skyrockets, the ability to fund efficiency measures becomes critical to both environmental sustainability and bottom-line profitability. Data centers are notoriously power-hungry, and the C-PACE program directly addresses this by funding the very infrastructure—HVAC, advanced cooling systems, and electrical upgrades—needed to mitigate that impact.

“I’ve long seen the potential of using C-PACE for data centers since efficiency makes such a big impact on their bottom line, and am excited to continue finding opportunities in this space,” noted Robbie Pinkas, senior vice president at PACE Loan Group, who originated the loan.

The project underscores the growing importance of the Show Me PACE program, which has facilitated over $329 million in improvements across Missouri. “This was a truly historic project given that it is the largest C-PACE Project in Missouri by financing amount and supports the growing energy demands of data centers, which makes C-PACE funding for energy efficiency improvements of utmost importance in project development,” stated Josh Campbell, Executive Director of the Missouri Energy Initiative.

From Historic Landmark to High-Tech Hub

Located at 1601 McGee Street, the iconic glass-fronted building that once housed the Kansas City Star newspaper is finding new life as a beacon of the digital age. The five-acre downtown campus, a site once considered for the Kansas City Royals' new stadium, is now central to the city's pivot toward becoming a major technology hub.

Patmos’s vision extends beyond just servers and cooling systems. The company is converting nearly 150,000 square feet of the facility into a multi-tenant technology hub, complete with co-working and event spaces. This people-centric approach aims to create a vibrant ecosystem that attracts tech talent and fosters innovation, transforming the landmark into a nexus for the region's growing AI community. The urban location is a strategic advantage, offering close proximity to dense fiber optic routes and robust utility infrastructure essential for hyperscale operations.

This adaptive reuse project serves as a powerful symbol of economic transition, turning a relic of 20th-century media into a cornerstone of 21st-century technology. It injects new vitality into the downtown core, promising high-paying tech jobs and solidifying Kansas City's appeal for further investment.

Powering the Future with Sustainable Infrastructure

The $100 million in C-PACE proceeds are earmarked specifically for the sophisticated energy and water efficiency measures required to cool and power the high-density AI hardware. Patmos started construction in late 2024 and quickly established itself as a leader in rapid deployment, bringing 12 megawatts of power online in just six months.

To manage the intense heat generated by thousands of GPUs, the company is implementing advanced solutions that go far beyond traditional air conditioning. The upgrades include a closed-loop water system and collaboration with a local chilled water company, which dramatically reduces water waste and offloads a significant portion of the cooling energy burden. These systems, along with in-building cooling plants and the use of district distilled water, are designed to achieve a high level of Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE), a key metric for data center efficiency.

This focus on sustainability is not just an environmental choice but a critical business decision. With two publicly traded tenants already signed to multi-year leases, demonstrating operational efficiency and a commitment to ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) principles is a major competitive advantage in attracting top-tier clients.

An Independent Force in a Centralized World

Behind the project is Patmos Hosting, a company founded in 2022 with a distinct mission: to provide “Freedom as a Service™.” Patmos positions itself as an independent alternative to the dominant cloud providers, offering clients an infrastructure free from what it calls “Big Tech’s commercial constraints, censorship, cancellation and deplatforming.”

By owning and operating its own data centers with decentralized connectivity and open peering, Patmos aims to ensure resilience and true independence for its clients. This philosophy, combined with a focus on speed, has enabled the company to rapidly gain a foothold in the market.

“With this loan, Patmos is able to continue to deliver on our speed to market promise for our clients while creating an AI Campus that serves as the technology hub for one of the fastest expanding regions in the industry,” said John Johnson, Patmos’ founder and CEO. “Using a PACE vehicle to expand AI infrastructure has never been done — but that’s the Patmos way. It allowed us to build fast while maintaining long-term sustainability, profitability, and ownership.”

With the next phase of infrastructure upgrades slated for completion this spring and the full project expected to be finished by March 2026, the Patmos AI Campus is on a fast track to becoming a critical piece of North America's digital backbone. The project stands as a powerful testament to how innovative financing, urban revitalization, and a commitment to independence can converge to power the future of technology.