Massive $6 billion data center campus proposed for rural Oldham County

LA GRANGE, Ky. (WDRB) – A $6 billion data center campus is planned along a two-lane road in Oldham County, the second such tech project proposed for the Louisville area in recent months.   

The organizers of “Project Lincoln” promise an infusion of jobs and tax revenue for the county just north of Louisville that includes an anticipated $4 billion economic impact and hundreds of direct and spinoff positions.

They claim Oldham County’s school system, public services and general fund all stand to benefit from the arrival of the massive complex that would house computer servers and other equipment used to quickly process troves of digital information.

But the plan announced last week already faces pushback from some residents who argue the rolling land along Ash Run Creek outside of La Grange isn’t the right fit for a 267-acre campus with eight warehouse-style buildings and power stations.

And there is a key difference from a similar endeavor announced in January in Louisville: The Oldham County project needs a land-use change to move forward.

At the One Nineteen West Main Restaurant in downtown La Grange, owner Jason Kinser said he understands the purported tax benefits but has questions about the complex’s environmental impact and whether the site off Ky. 53 is appropriate.

“I think the location needs to really be thought out in advance,” Kinser said. “You know, this is something that would be a major undertaking (and) would be here for quite a long time.”

The site is now zoned for agriculture and would need to be approved for other uses. The first step in that process is set for April 16, when the county’s Technical Review Committee meets to hear the proposal.

Oldham County’s top elected official, Judge-Executive David Voegele, said Monday that the county’s Board of Adjustments and Appeals must agree to any changes. Typically that’s done through a permit that allows specific uses not allowed in a zoning district.

“There are many, many questions to be answered before this project goes further down the line,” Voegele said. The county likely will hire a consultant to evaluate the proposal, he added.

Voegele said he’s not taken a position on the plan, but called it a “generational opportunity” that could result in $50 million annually in additional tax revenue throughout the county, mainly through increased property tax dollars.

“I'm hearing a lot from people in our community, with a lot of emails so far, people raising questions, people objecting I think mostly to the location -- not necessarily the idea of a data center,” Voegele said.

A New Jersey-based company called Western Hospitality Partners – Kentucky LLC is applying for the land-use change but does not own the property, according to Oldham County planning documents.

The proposal was first reported by The Oldham Era late last week. 

A project summary provided to WDRB News says about 200 acres of the site will be preserved as green space, with the data center "nestled within the Oldham County trees." Renderings show a buffer of trees between the road and the buildings. 

It’s too early to know the ultimate user and what Western Hospitality Partners’ role will be, said Gary Gerdemann, a partner at Louisville-based RunSwitch Public Relations, which is handling communications for the project.

State records show that Western Hospitality Partners spent at least $14,000 lobbying for “tax policy” during the recently concluded Kentucky General Assembly that included passing a bill into law that expands tax breaks for data centers.

Projects of at least $100 million in Oldham County could qualify for a 25-year exemption on sales and use taxes on computer equipment bought for the buildings at the site.

A data center campus off Camp Ground Road near Shively is being developed by Louisville real estate firm Poe Companies and Virginia-based PowerHouse Data Centers. Construction is scheduled to begin there later this year.

Officials with the joint venture say they're in talks with a handful of well-known technology companies to occupy the site. Hank Hillebrand, president of Poe Companies, has estimated the total investment as "several billions of dollars." 

Data center construction has boomed in parts of the U.S. in recent years, although not in Kentucky or southern Indiana. But that began to change after Facebook parent company Meta announced plans last year for an $800 million project at the River Ridge Commerce Center in Jeffersonville, Indiana. 

Analysts predict the number of large centers will double worldwide within the next four years. At the same time, some experts are touting the Kentucky region as a place to watch for future developments because of available land and power. 

Louisville Gas & Electric plans to build a transmission substation to carry high-voltage electricity from power lines to a station owned and paid for the Camp Ground Road site developers. Ratepayers would cover the cost. 

Liz Pratt, an LG&E spokeswoman, said Monday that transmission studies are underway for the Oldham County project and couldn't say whether the utility will make a capital investment on the site. 

She said in a statement that the utility's prior forecast -- that new data centers could increase the overall energy system load by as much as 45% by 2032 -- "remains on pace." 

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