$10B data center startup Crusoe more than doubling footprint in Cherry Creek

242 Milwaukee Exterior scaled 1

A rendering of Milwaukee Place, an office building under construction at 242 Milwaukee St. in Denver’s Cherry Creek neighborhood. (Courtesy BMC Investments)

Data center developer Crusoe will anchor an office building that recently broke ground in Cherry Creek.

The company, founded in 2018, will take 54,000 square feet in the building at 242 Milwaukee St. being developed by BMC Investments’ Matt Joblon.

But the company, which said in the fall it was valued at $10 billion, isn’t moving. It will keep its existing 38,000-square-foot headquarters one block away at 255 Fillmore St., which it leased in 2022 before construction there started. 

Joblon developed and owns that building too, and said Crusoe approached him needing more space.

“We sat down and I think it was done in a week,” Joblon said of the new lease.

Matt Joblon HiRes BW Cropped

Matt Joblon

The company’s decision to take more than half the 7-story, 94,000-square-foot 242 Milwaukee building was a big reason BMC was able to break ground on it in October, according to Joblon.

“I think it speaks to our relationship with them,” he said of the repeat leases.

The building is expected to be completed in 2027.

Crusoe was founded by Kent Denver grads Chase Lochmiller and Cully Cavness. The two originally had their sights on bitcoin mining, capturing excess natural gas from oil extraction to power mining operations. But after OpenAI launched ChatGPT in 2022, Crusoe switched its focus to building data centers for artificial intelligence firms.

The company sources the energy, designs and constructs the buildings and provides cloud storage to run intensive AI workflows.

Crusoe has 150 employees in Denver, according to Timadge Berkhadley, the company’s head of human resources. They’re split among Crusoe’s research and development, finance, accounting and power divisions. 

Berkhadley said Crusoe expects to increase its Denver headcount by 200 people.

Crusoe has an additional 300 employees in San Francisco, California, with plans to add 100 more there. Cavness calls Denver home, while Lochmiller lives in San Francisco.

“Expanding our office space in Cherry Creek allows us  to continue attracting top-tier talent in Denver while providing a world-class hub for innovation and collaboration,” Cavness said in a statement.

image 18

Cully Cavness, left, and Chase Lochmiller

Crusoe’s local office expansion comes on the coattails of a massive cash influx.

In October, the company announced it had raised $1 billion of an eventual $1.4 billion round, which was co-led by Chicago-based Valor Equity Partners and Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Capital. Crusoe said the company was valued at $10 billion.

In total, the company has raised $2.5 billion since it started eight years ago.

Crusoe is developing millions of square feet for OpenAI and Oracle at a site in Abilene, Texas, called Stargate. Cavness told BusinessDen, after a $600 million raise in late 2024, the campus would predominantly be powered using wind turbines. It also has another, even bigger data center project planned in Wyoming near the Colorado line, the company said over the summer.

Crusoe has been getting other deals done locally too. The company will be the first customer for Centennial-based Boom Supersonic’s newly announced venture into data center power generation.

BusinessDen reporter Thomas Gounley contributed reporting.

242 Milwaukee Exterior scaled 1

A rendering of Milwaukee Place, an office building under construction at 242 Milwaukee St. in Denver’s Cherry Creek neighborhood. (Courtesy BMC Investments)

Data center developer Crusoe will anchor an office building that recently broke ground in Cherry Creek.

The company, founded in 2018, will take 54,000 square feet in the building at 242 Milwaukee St. being developed by BMC Investments’ Matt Joblon.

But the company, which said in the fall it was valued at $10 billion, isn’t moving. It will keep its existing 38,000-square-foot headquarters one block away at 255 Fillmore St., which it leased in 2022 before construction there started. 

Joblon developed and owns that building too, and said Crusoe approached him needing more space.

“We sat down and I think it was done in a week,” Joblon said of the new lease.

Matt Joblon HiRes BW Cropped

Matt Joblon

The company’s decision to take more than half the 7-story, 94,000-square-foot 242 Milwaukee building was a big reason BMC was able to break ground on it in October, according to Joblon.

“I think it speaks to our relationship with them,” he said of the repeat leases.

The building is expected to be completed in 2027.

Crusoe was founded by Kent Denver grads Chase Lochmiller and Cully Cavness. The two originally had their sights on bitcoin mining, capturing excess natural gas from oil extraction to power mining operations. But after OpenAI launched ChatGPT in 2022, Crusoe switched its focus to building data centers for artificial intelligence firms.

The company sources the energy, designs and constructs the buildings and provides cloud storage to run intensive AI workflows.

Crusoe has 150 employees in Denver, according to Timadge Berkhadley, the company’s head of human resources. They’re split among Crusoe’s research and development, finance, accounting and power divisions. 

Berkhadley said Crusoe expects to increase its Denver headcount by 200 people.

Crusoe has an additional 300 employees in San Francisco, California, with plans to add 100 more there. Cavness calls Denver home, while Lochmiller lives in San Francisco.

“Expanding our office space in Cherry Creek allows us  to continue attracting top-tier talent in Denver while providing a world-class hub for innovation and collaboration,” Cavness said in a statement.

image 18

Cully Cavness, left, and Chase Lochmiller

Crusoe’s local office expansion comes on the coattails of a massive cash influx.

In October, the company announced it had raised $1 billion of an eventual $1.4 billion round, which was co-led by Chicago-based Valor Equity Partners and Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Capital. Crusoe said the company was valued at $10 billion.

In total, the company has raised $2.5 billion since it started eight years ago.

Crusoe is developing millions of square feet for OpenAI and Oracle at a site in Abilene, Texas, called Stargate. Cavness told BusinessDen, after a $600 million raise in late 2024, the campus would predominantly be powered using wind turbines. It also has another, even bigger data center project planned in Wyoming near the Colorado line, the company said over the summer.

Crusoe has been getting other deals done locally too. The company will be the first customer for Centennial-based Boom Supersonic’s newly announced venture into data center power generation.

BusinessDen reporter Thomas Gounley contributed reporting.

This story is for our paid subscribers only. Please become one of the thousands of BusinessDen members today!

Your subscription has expired. Renew now by choosing a subscription below!

For more informaiton, head over to your profile.

Profile


SUBSCRIBE NOW

 — 

 — 

 — 

TERMS OF SERVICE:

ALL MEMBERSHIPS RENEW AUTOMATICALLY. YOU WILL BE CHARGED FOR A 1 YEAR MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL AT THE RATE IN EFFECT AT THAT TIME UNLESS YOU CANCEL YOUR MEMBERSHIP BY LOGGING IN OR BY CONTACTING [email protected].

ALL CHARGES FOR MONTHLY OR ANNUAL MEMBERSHIPS ARE NONREFUNDABLE.

EACH MEMBERSHIP WILL ONLY FUNCTION ON UP TO 3 MACHINES. ACCOUNTS ABUSING THAT LIMIT WILL BE DISCONTINUED.

FOR ASSISTANCE WITH YOUR MEMBERSHIP PLEASE EMAIL [email protected]




Return to Homepage

Comments are closed.