From the outside, the facility at 3231 Paul R. Lowry Road in Memphis, Tennessee, doesn’t look like much more than a typical warehouse. But inside, the recently redeveloped property is home to one of the world’s largest supercomputers.
In late 2023, real estate firm Phoenix Investors purchased the former Electrolux facility along with 580 acres of excess industrial land. By March, the property was leased to Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI.
The deal earned a 2025 CoStar Impact Award for lease of the year in Memphis, as selected by an independent panel of local industry professionals.
The facility is set to act as a data hub, housing a supercomputer used for AI training models and interference efforts. It’s an important development, not just for the AI movement, but for Memphis’ economic growth, according to the firm that submitted the award.
The deal is the most significant capital investment by a new-to-market company in Memphis’ history, according to Joann Massey, president and CEO of the Economic Development Growth Engine Board, the area's local development board.
“It's not only going to bring revenue, jobs, and investment infrastructure to Memphis, but it's going to bring even more opportunity and interest,” Massey said.
Other Fortune 500 companies are already following in xAI’s footsteps. Nvidia, Dell and Supermicro Computer will join the firm in establishing operations in Memphis.
“Memphis is a city of innovators, so it's no surprise that it feels like home to those looking to change the world,” Mayor Paul Young said of the redevelopment. “We had an ideal site, ripe for investment. And we had the power of our people, who created new and innovative processes to keep up with the pace required to land this transformational project.”
About the project: Musk's xAI moved into the 785,000-square-foot facility in early June. No price was disclosed for the deal.
What the judges said: "When people start referring to Memphis as the next Austin, then you know you have a lease that will have an impact on the City of Memphis," said Shawn Massey, partner at the Shopping Center Group.
They made it happen: Anthony Crivello, managing director at Phoenix Investors, and Kurt Jensen, senior vice president of acquisitions and leasing at Phoenix Investors, represented the landlord.