KSHB 41 reporter Elyse Schoenig covers Johnson County. She also focuses on issues surrounding the cost of health care, saving for retirement and personal debt. Share your story idea with Elyse.
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People in De Soto had a chance to talk about noise restrictions related to data center developments at the City Council meeting Thursday. That is just one concern residents said they have with Beale Infrastructure’s data center project.
Many residents have shared those concerns with KSHB 41 News Johnson County reporter Elyse Schoenig, including the project’s size and transparency.
Schoenig first heard the voices of De Soto residents in June. That is when Beale Infrastructure, the developer of one of De Soto’s data center projects, held a community town hall on its project.
“How big is the facility going to be? Are you planning to change the development agreement?” David Smith said.
“I'm concerned about the water supply issues, the environmental impacts,” Emily Lednicky added.
“I would say yes, skeptical is a good word,” Tracy Smith said.
After Schoenig's first story aired, she talked with Toni Caldwell and Sara VanDeCreek, two of the many people who said they want more clarity on the project’s size.
“It was going to be these four smaller data centers, and then all of a sudden, boom, we have these big ones,” De Soto resident Toni Caldwell said.
“We were all left blindsided,” Sara VanDeCreek, another resident, said.
Their concerns don’t stop there — both said they have environmental and noise concerns among others.
“We need to make sure that we have the right noise ordinances in place. We need to have the right light ordinances in place. We need to have environmental protections in place,” VanDeCreek said.
The project was formally introduced to and approved by the De Soto City Council in August 2025. Rob Daniels was on the city council at the time.
“I made the motion for it at the time, and I don't regret the motion as far as what was presented to us at that point in time, but what we're seeing now is not what was presented,” Daniels said.
KSHB 41 News asked him how it was different.
“Size,” he said. “It’s 2.4 times the size of what was presented to us.”
A Beale Infrastructure spokesperson told KSHB 41 the company’s initial estimate for this project was 1.14 million square feet. The size has more than doubled to 2.9 million square feet, which was approved by the De Soto Planning Commission in spring of 2026. The spokesperson also said the initial designs were “preliminary and subject to change.”
“They (Beale) were clear that that was a preliminary layout and that this was a general plan,” De Soto City Administrator Mike Brungardt said. “The actual, the legal binding agreement that we approved back in August of 2025, does not limit building size."
Brungardt said because the data center project fit within how the land was already zoned, the change in size did not need to come to full council for approval after it passed the planning commission.
He also talked about the revenue this project will bring in.
“We'll get $300 million in revenue just to the city of De Soto,” he said. “That doesn't count the revenues that the state will get from sales tax or the county will get from sales tax. Doesn't count the revenues that the schools will receive from property tax from their part.”
Brungardt also said they are prepared to handle common concerns like infrastructure, water and noise.
VanDeCreek and Caldwell said they want more transparency from their city leaders. It is why they are advocating for more ordinances, and even a moratorium, to their leaders.
“What does it hurt to have these protections in place?” VanDeCreek asked.
At June’s town hall, a Beale spokesperson addressed some concerns about infrastructure and water use, pointed to the project’s water design, which is a closed-loop system, saying it would minimize their water impact.
The spokesperson also said the facility will use around 15,000 to 20,000 gallons of water per day.
She also said this Beale Infrastructure project is expected to bring 400 to 800 local construction jobs. Once operational, each phase of the site is expected to support 50 jobs, along with more than 100 contract worker positions and additional opportunities for local vendors and suppliers.
The company has already broken ground and phase one of construction is expected to be completed in 2029.
Beale Infrastructure's data center campus is one of two possible data center projects in De Soto.
Read the full statement from a Beale spokesperson below:
“The initial conceptual designs presented to the City Council in August 2025 were preliminary and subject to change, and not part of the formal application, which was submitted earlier this year and approved by the Planning Commission in April and May.
The presentation to Council in August included conservative estimates for the purpose of calculating tax revenue projections to the city. The project designs still conform to city zoning codes and will not require any variances.
The 2.9 million planned square footage for both phases of the $3 billion project reflect two key adjustments.:Beale Infrastructure remains committed to forming long-term partnerships that are truly “Community First,” and has announced the following community investments in De Soto.:
- First, updates to the initial plans reflect the design decision for an air-cooled, closed-loop system, which drastically minimizes water use. With the air-cooled, closed-loop system, daily water consumption will be for domestic purposes only — such as for employee kitchens, bathrooms and health and safety — similar to a large commercial office building.
- Second, per the agreement, the payments-in-lieu-of-taxes (known as PILOT payments) are tied to the project’s square footage — resulting in larger estimated economic impacts to the city — $163M for De Soto taxing districts — with $78M to USD232; plus more than $250 million in sales tax on power and franchise fees.
- $10 million to replace the city’s aging Kansas River Crossing, a critical 80-year-old cast iron pipeline that delivers the majority of the City’s raw water supply.”
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