Massive Data Center Cluster Proposed In Upper Merion

UPPER MERION, PA — A little more than a year ago, the notion of private developers pushing through land development projects fiercely opposed by large bipartisan activist groups and state legislators alike would have been unlikely. But the advent of data centers for artificial intelligence, often backed by Gov. Shapiro's administration and the financial resources of tech giants like Amazon, has seemingly changed the calculus.

Eight new data center projects have been proposed in Upper Merion Township and will be heard by the township planning commission during their regular meeting on May 27 at 7 p.m.

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The move comes as overwhelming public opposition to the deeply unpopular data centers has led to numerous projects around suburban Philadelphia being either stalled, withdrawn, or outright rejected.

That hasn't stopped companies like MLP Ventures group, a real estate developer that specializes in transforming older corporate properties into modern tech hubs, from attempting to gain a foothold in Upper Merion. They're all backed by Brian O'Neill, the same man who is now trying for a second time redevelop the former Cleveland Cliffs steel plant site in Plymouth Township into a data center, despite controversy and major protests leading to the withdrawal of his first proposal in Nov. 2025.

Taken together, the eight projects total more than 4 million square feet of potential data center land. Proposals were submitted just days before Upper Merion passed a data center ordinance that would tightly regulate potential developments, meaning developers may have found a "loophole" past attempts to protect the township from the worst effects of these projects.

The biggest of the eight is a grouping of four in a cluster on 2201, 2301, 2501, 2701, and 2901 Renaissance Boulevard.

Another proposal just down the road about a quarter mile away on 3200 Horizon Drive that calls for another 370,000 square foot development.

About a mile away is another proposal called Innovation 511. That 1.6 million square foot project is located on 411 Swedeland Road.

Finally, there's a 450,000 square foot project on 600 River Road, on the Schuylkill River about a mile and a half to the east.

"Data centers have been documented to bring increased noise including constant electrical humming, massive electric and water consumption, strain on power grids, increased utility rates for electric and water, increased heat, light pollution, air pollution, and decreased property values, to name a few," the advocacy group Upper Merion Against Data Centers, which is helping to organize opposition, shared recently.

Beyond those points, state legislators and a bipartisan coalition of residents are also increasingly questioning the utility of the artificial intelligence for which data centers are built. As job losses mount, the only beneficiaries of the technology, critics say, are tech giants.

According to emails obtained in a Right to Know request by the advocacy group Concerned Citizens of Montour County, O'Neill has been lobbying the Shapiro administration to put together legislation that would require anyone who wants to appeal a data center project to post a bond that is worth double the cost of the project.

"Example, if a $2 million project is postponed due to an appeal, they should have to post a bond for $4 million," O'Neill wrote to Benjamin Kirshner, Shapiro's "chief transformation officer."

See also: Montco Data Center Developer Lobbies Gov. Shapiro's Office To Take Away Appeal Rights

That same trove of emails also revealed numerous communications between Amazon and the Shapiro administration, including efforts to keep Amazon's identity as the developer behind numerous projects in Pennsylvania a secret.

The May 27 meeting is open to the public and will be held at Freedom Hall on 175 W. Valley Forge Road.