The new hub will be a 24/7 secured data centre, with the State Government touting its introduction of sovereign capability to the state critical for defence and hi-tech industries.

It says the data centre, to be known as A1, will create 150 jobs.

The facility will also include a “Mission Critical Operational Space” and “Entrepreneur and Innovation Centre”.

NEXTDC has been in negotiations with the Adelaide City Council to purchase the land at 121 Pirie Street, the location of the beach volleyball courts on the corner of Pirie and Frome Street.

The council last May voted to sell off the beach volleyball facility in a bid to boost its pandemic-hit coffers, despite an overwhelming majority of respondents to public consultation on the matter opposing the sale.

Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor said NEXTDC is “precisely the type of business we want to see based here”.

“Not only will the sale of 211 Pirie Street see a company with a strong global reputation further cement Adelaide’s reputation as an affordable and innovative place to do business, the investment will be responsibly used for the growth of the city,” she said.

“Today’s announcement is also a great example of two levels of government working in partnership and I want to thank and acknowledge the State Government for its commitment to attracting new investment to our city.”

NEXTDC already has 14 data centres located across Australia including four in Sydney.

Premier Steven Marshall said the State Government had been working very closely with NEXTDC to bring them to South Australia for some time.

“Their investment will go beyond the creation of the data centre to include the opportunity for collaboration with our state’s universities, ensuring a pipeline of skilled workers for the future,” he said.

“It’s also fantastic that this central city location will enable the company to continue to service their customers, including Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure – who have all recently established in Adelaide.”