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Another multibillion-dollar data center could be making its way in the Kansas City area.
We've reported extensively on data centers on the Missouri side of the metro as part of our Data, Dollars and Demand series. Now, an approximately $12 billion project is coming to the Kansas side of the metro.
The massive tech institutions usually consist of several buildings and take up several hundred acres. Inside, you'll find computers, servers and cooling systems to house all the information you use on your phone and computer. Artificial intelligence has been pushing the demand on data centers, requiring larger servers and energy usage, and therefore more development.
Data centers are constantly running, using hundreds of megawatts of energy and thousands of gallons of water every day.
Google and Meta have already started building their data center campuses in the Northland.
Economic experts explained tech giants are coming to the Midwest because of the low cost of land, utilities and state tax incentives.
"That's why the Midwest is even more attractive now than it used to be so many odd years ago," Steven Anthony, vice president of the Economic Development Council of Kansas City, said. "Kansas City, in particular, is certainly kind of catching it."
The latest development proposal in Kansas City, Kansas, would sit about four miles north of the Kansas Speedway. The Wyandotte County Planning Commission recommended rezoning several hundred acres, bisected by Parallel Parkway, for a data center. Several people shared their voices at Wednesday night's meeting, both opposed and in favor of the project.
Right off of Parallel Parkway and 131st Street, you won't hear much noise along the 540 acres of open land. It's one of the reasons why some in KCK aren't in favor of Red Wolf Properties building a 1,980,000 square foot data center.
"It's a nice place to come because it's serene, it's quiet, it's relaxed, it's comfortable and it's a beautiful place to go to church," Richard Lavin said.
Lavin is an active member of the Liberty Church, which sits right across the street from the edge of the proposed data center site.
"[Data centers] create a lot of heat, they use a lot of water, they use a lot of electricity, but they are the future," Lavin said. "I don't think it needs to be across from the church."
Unlike Google and Meta's development in the Northland, it's unknown what company may be behind the development in KCK or contracting with Red Wolf Properties. The developer's presentation to the Unified Government of Wyandotte County on Wednesday revealed the proposed data center would use 600 megawatts of energy, which exceeds the BPU's current demand threshold.
The data center campus would span across six buildings over the next few decades.
The owner of local construction company CJ Industries explained it would provide a significant amount of construction opportunities on the Kansas side of the metro.
"It would bring jobs, it would bring skilled, trade jobs to Wyandotte County," Rocha said. "We are losing a lot of skilled knowledge that we can't recreate overnight. I think the more people who see that construction is a viable career path, the more people will be interested."
Rocha has been in the development industry for years and can envision new projects taking off with a data center.
"You don't understand the sense of pride you have when you can drive by something and say 'I helped build that and that's creating jobs for other people', until you actually get to do it," Rocha said. "It would give us an opportunity to bid on something in our backyard, and just to have that opportunity somewhere close to where I live and somewhere close to where I work, it means the world."
The Wyandotte County Board of Commissioners will now vote on the rezoning on June 26. KSHB 41 News reached out to the county, but no one was made available for a comment.
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