urbanSTL

Meta data center in downtown rumor kinda swirling

Really depends on where downtown this would be.

This is pretty much a fluff piece, but this data center in Kansas City is trying to "humanize" the data center experience. 

https://patmos.tech/whats-up-at-the-sta ... ht-robots/

dbInSouthCity wrote: ↑

Oct 08, 2025

Meta data center in downtown rumor kinda swirling

For the TriStar site? 

There is no future in data centers
City leaders should avoid investing taxpayer dollars in tech hype

https://connerkerrigan.substack.com/p/there-is-no-future-in-data-centers?r=9twgj&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&triedRedirect=true

"Old Factories, Empty Offices Help Fuel Midwest Data Center Building Boom"


https://constructforstl.org/old-factori ... ding-boom/

https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/new ... uture.html

Aldermanic President Megan Green says moratorium may be the only way for the city to stop the Armory data center.

She says the ultimate yes or no decision is with the Midtown Redevelopment Corporation, they also have ultimate say over tax abatement of the property.

This is just not true. The ultimate decision is with the City and the building division and BPS. Midtown development corp cannot issue a building permit

dbInSouthCity wrote: ↑

Oct 14, 2025

This is just not true. The ultimate decision is with the City and the building division and BPS. Midtown development corp cannot issue a building permit

"St. Louis Aldermanic President Megan Green said Sunday that city elected officials have few options for stopping a planned data center at a site adjacent to the Armory in Midtown, even as hundreds gathered for a town hall opposing the project.

Green said in an interview Friday that the path forward for a data center planned for an empty lot at 500 Prospect Ave., part of a broader $1.5 billion redevelopment project that includes the Armory, presented no clear options for the Board of Aldermen or the mayor's office to intervene.

Instead, the decision lies within the Conditional Use Hearing process, made up of a board that oversees and grants exceptions to existing zoning rules. The only way aldermen or the mayor could prevent the project from going forward is to implement a moratorium on data centers in the city, she said."

I should have specified that she said elected officials.

The relative environmental efficiency of data centers.
https://andymasley.substack.com/p/what-a-data-center-is?ref=thebrowser.com

STL PR - Officials say data centers can be the future of Missouri’s economy. But it’s complicated


https://www.stlpr.org/economy-business/ ... ri-economy

It's not that hard to grasp that if you have a transparent process and work with the community and propose your data center be built in an industrial area removed from residents and activity, you wouldn't get near the pushback that you're getting when you attempt to sneak it in on tax abated property in the middle of a very well trafficked area with tons of new non-industrial development all around it.

chris fuller wrote:The relative environmental efficiency of data centers.
https://andymasley.substack.com/p/what-a-data-center-is?ref=thebrowser.com

I would prefer to see the Armory receive a second opportunity to transform into an entertainment venue, while simultaneously locating data centers to industrial areas that offer superior capacity and capabilities. As someone who does some limited AI use in coding, I firmly believe that there are more environmentally sustainable locations within the STL area for data centers.

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I firmly believe that there are more environmentally sustainable locations within the STL area for data centers
Possibly the former workhouse location?

BarryGlick wrote:I firmly believe that there are more environmentally sustainable locations within the STL area for data centers
Possibly the former workhouse location?

Maybe?


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https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/local ... 0813c8f46e

Josh Hawley learning how private companies operate in a capitalist system. The justification is that Ameren has an obligation to increase revenue for its shareholders. Obviously.

Our zoning laws prevent multi family residential proposals that this city needs, but can’t contain data centers to industrial zones? This doesn’t feel like a hard fix. Why these can’t be contained by governments to places like Mark Twain, north riverfront, earth city or Sauget is beyond me. Every other industrial use has to follow these laws, why do data center developers get to slip in the middle of residential, commercial and mixed use zones?

We're all going to be paying AI's Godzilla-sized power bills
Even if you never use it, you'll be paying for it thanks to datacenters' never-ending hunger for electricity
https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/13/ai_power_bills/

Fraydog wrote: ↑

Oct 15, 2025

chris fuller wrote:The relative environmental efficiency of data centers.
https://andymasley.substack.com/p/what-a-data-center-is?ref=thebrowser.com

I would prefer to see the Armory receive a second opportunity to transform into an entertainment venue, while simultaneously locating data centers to industrial areas that offer superior capacity and capabilities. As someone who does some limited AI use in coding, I firmly believe that there are more environmentally sustainable locations within the STL area for data centers.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Not arguing that this is a "bad idea" but I just can't imagine what sort of entertainment concept could utilize 250,000 SF and still remain profitable. Maybe something like Cosm? https://cosm.com/

iCasa Bonita!

delmar2debaliviere2downtown wrote: ↑

Oct 16, 2025

Our zoning laws prevent multi family residential proposals that this city needs, but can’t contain data centers to industrial zones? This doesn’t feel like a hard fix. Why these can’t be contained by governments to places like Mark Twain, north riverfront, earth city or Sauget is beyond me. Every other industrial use has to follow these laws, why do data center developers get to slip in the middle of residential, commercial and mixed use zones?

FOMO.  Politicians are afraid of missing out on the next hot thing.  Also, money and lobbyists.  

Amazon reveals 960 megawatt nuclear power plans to cope with AI demand — Richland, Washington site tapped for deployment of Xe-100 small modular reactors
https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/amazon-unveils-plans-for-modular-nuclear-plant-in-washington

960MW a decade from now.
Meanwhile China is deploying a GW of solar every day.

Plus China is building new coal fired electrical plants at a breakneck place.