Tech hub, 'clean energy' data center part of Emerson campus renovation plan in Ferguson
FERGUSON — The buyer of the former Emerson campus here said that he aims to turn the site into a state-of-the-art technology hub.
Part of that project will include "modernizing" a data center already on the site that uses renewable energy, said Jim Onder, an attorney and real estate developer who has the former Emerson site under contract to buy. But it will be a state-of-the art clean energy data center without the energy consumption or pollution causing concerns nationwide, he said.
"These huge, huge data centers you see on TV and so forth — that’s not part of the plan," Onder said at a town hall meeting Wednesday night.
Onder and two partners presented the proposal for a nearly $2 billion renovation of the former Emerson campus, a 217-acre site at 8000 West Florissant Avenue, to Ferguson officials and more than 40 residents.
The city council is negotiating a deal to help finance the project, which would be among the largest commercial developments in the city's history, through the issuance of industrial revenue bonds and 15 years of tax abatement.
The proposal comes amid some pushback on data centers locally and nationally over possible environmental impacts and energy use. In Ferguson on Wednesday, residents questioned the developers about environmental impacts, noise, energy consumption and the tax incentives the city could provide.
A growth in AI and digital infrastructure is creating increased demand for data centers across the country and in the St. Louis region, where about a half-dozen projects have been proposed in St. Louis, Franklin, Jefferson and St. Charles counties.
In Ferguson, Onder, operating as SSL Investments, is proposing a $1.8 billion "center for technology, energy innovation, advanced manufacturing, office and research activity," city records show. The investments could include an additional $1 billion to $7.5 billion in equipment and installation. SSL has the site under contract to buy for roughly $18 million.
The former Emerson campus, zoned for industrial use, neighbors the Norwood Hills Country Club, Westfall shopping plaza and hundreds of homes along Bermuda Drive and Woodstock Road.
Onder said on Wednesday night that he hopes to turn the campus into something similar to the Cortex technology district in St. Louis.
The project will bring hundreds of jobs and at least $30 million in tax revenue over the 15-year tax abatement period, or about $2 million a year to Ferguson, he said. The site would generate about $1 million in tax revenue over that same period without new development, he said.
"That is our goal, to transform this campus, make a difference, and make it a crown jewel for Ferguson and the country," Onder said.
The project will not require rezoning or an expansion of the campus footprint, Onder said. But it would include renovation of a data center that has been on the site for more than a decade.
Emerson installed the 15,000-square-foot data center in 2009 at a cost of $50 million as part of an effort to consolidate its infrastructure and make it more energy efficient. The center runs on renewable energy, including solar panels, and only uses diesel power as a backup energy source, Onder said.
He said the plant will use "clean energy" and vowed it wouldn't consume significantly more electricity or harm the environment or public health. As, proof, he said, he plans to move his office onto the site and bring 50 employees of his law firm with him.
"If health was an issue, I wouldn’t be up there," Onder said.
Onder said he is the only person behind SSL. But he has support from Copeland, an air conditioning and refrigeration company that has owned the campus since Emerson moved its headquarters to Clayton in 2022.
Copeland has about 300 employees at its headquarters and only uses about 20% of the site, chief legal officer Christine Carney said Wednesday night.
The rest of the property is vacant or underutilized, and Copeland can't afford to stay in Ferguson if it stays that way, Carney said. Onder was the only prospective buyer in more than a year who wanted to bring new tenants in.
"The stakes here are really high," Carney said.
Ernesto Segura, an attorney with Husch Blackwell representing SSL in negotiations with Ferguson, said the development wouldn't receive any tax abatements until it meets its job creation and investment commitments to the city.
The city is requiring 100 additional full-time jobs, in addition to retaining jobs there, as a condition for the incentives, according to city estimates. SSL Investments would also be expected to make payments in lieu of taxes and would be required to invest at least $175 million within four years, documents show.
Ferguson residents said after the meeting that some of their concerns were eased, but that they hoped for more details before the city commits to financing the project.
"Historically, when big 'renewal' projects are proposed in majority Black communities, they aren't what they promise to be," said Peggy Neely-Harris, who is Black. "People can talk now all they want. I want to see the details."
Cassandra Butler said she supported "bringing economic development in, but I want to know more."
Gerry Noll, a retired Emerson employee, said he trusted the company and Copeland, a former Emerson division, to be good stewards of the site. But he was concerned about the developers' revenue projections.
"How is the math going to work?" he said.
