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Sinema’s High-Stakes Gamble: How a Desert City Thwarted Big Tech’s Data Empire Dreams

In the arid expanse of Chandler, Arizona, a seemingly routine city council vote has ignited a national debate over the unchecked expansion of artificial intelligence infrastructure. On a crisp December evening in 2025, the Chandler City Council unanimously rejected a proposal to rezone land for a sprawling data center complex, despite intense lobbying from former U.S. Senator Kyrsten Sinema and powerful tech interests. The decision, detailed in a report by Politico, underscores growing tensions between local communities and the voracious demands of the AI boom. Sinema, now a private consultant, had warned officials of potential federal intervention if they resisted, invoking her ties to the incoming Trump administration.

The project, spearheaded by a New York-based developer, aimed to transform 10 acres in Chandler’s Price Road Corridor into a hub for AI-driven data processing. Proponents promised economic windfalls, including hundreds of jobs and millions in tax revenue. Yet, residents mobilized en masse, flooding council inboxes with over 250 emails decrying the potential for noise pollution, skyrocketing energy demands, and strain on the region’s precious water resources. As covered in an article from The Arizona Republic, the opposition was overwhelming, with concerns amplified by the data center’s projected consumption of electricity equivalent to thousands of households.

This rejection isn’t isolated; it reflects a broader pushback against data centers in Arizona’s sun-baked terrain, where water scarcity and grid reliability are perennial issues. Just months earlier, Tucson officials had similarly rebuffed a massive Amazon facility, citing its “water-guzzling” nature amid ongoing droughts. Posts on X, formerly Twitter, captured the sentiment, with users praising community efforts to halt corporate overreach and highlighting how such projects could exacerbate utility bills and environmental strain.

Local Resistance Builds Amid Tech’s Relentless Advance

The Chandler saga began quietly but escalated when Sinema appeared at a planning commission meeting in October 2025. Describing her role as working “hand in glove” with federal authorities, she urged approval, suggesting that resistance could invite overrides from Washington. This intervention, as reported by E&E News by POLITICO, transformed a local zoning dispute into a flashpoint for discussions on federal-local power dynamics. Sinema’s involvement drew sharp criticism, with progressive voices like Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez celebrating the rejection on social media as a victory against insider influence.

At the heart of the opposition were tangible fears about the data center’s impact. Proposed by developer Vantage Data Centers, the facility was touted as a $2 billion investment, but detractors pointed to precedents where similar builds led to humming server farms disrupting quiet neighborhoods. In Chandler, a city of about 275,000 known for its tech-friendly history—home to Intel’s massive fabs—the tide turned due to evolving priorities. Council members, swayed by resident testimonies, emphasized preserving quality of life over short-term gains, a stance echoed in coverage from Fox Business.

Broader industry trends fueled the scrutiny. Data centers, essential for AI’s computational hunger, have proliferated nationwide, but Arizona’s appeal—abundant land and tax incentives—clashes with its vulnerabilities. The state’s power grid, strained by extreme heat, faces additional pressure from these energy-intensive operations. Recent X posts from users like local activists highlighted how Chandler’s decision could inspire other municipalities, with one viral thread detailing Tucson’s successful blockade of Amazon’s “Project Blue,” which would have consumed millions of gallons of water annually.

Sinema’s Pivot and the Shadow of Federal Influence

Kyrsten Sinema’s post-Senate career has been marked by controversy, and her Chandler appearance exemplified this shift. After leaving office as an independent, she positioned herself as a bridge between tech giants and policymakers, leveraging her connections. In her testimony, she invoked the specter of federal preemption, warning that the Trump administration might step in to ensure data infrastructure growth aligns with national priorities like AI competitiveness. This narrative, dissected in a piece by Common Dreams, painted her as a conduit for Big Tech’s agenda, prompting backlash from those who saw it as undue pressure on local governance.

Critics argue that such lobbying exposes the fragility of municipal autonomy in an era of rapid technological expansion. Chandler’s council, undeterred, voted 7-0 against the rezoning, a move that KTAR News described as a unanimous stand against external meddling. The decision came after hours of public comment, where residents articulated worries about everything from aesthetic blight to the long-term environmental toll. One speaker likened the data center to an “industrial behemoth” ill-suited for a corridor envisioned for mixed-use development.

Industry insiders note that Arizona has become a battleground for data center proliferation, with over a dozen facilities approved in recent years. However, rejections like Chandler’s signal a recalibration. Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego’s earlier push for stricter regulations on data center placements, as shared in her X post from July 2025, underscores this shift, aiming to shield residents from bearing the costs of tech’s power demands. Web searches reveal a pattern: communities are increasingly demanding transparency on water usage and energy sourcing, especially as AI models require ever-more resources.

Economic Promises Versus Community Costs

Proponents of the Chandler project argued it would inject vitality into the local economy, creating 180 full-time jobs with average salaries of $64,000 and generating substantial tax revenue. Drawing from similar ventures, backers cited figures like $250 million in taxes over time, split among city, county, and state coffers. Yet, as explored in a 12News report, emails to the council ran 20-to-1 against the plan, with many questioning whether the benefits outweighed the drawbacks.

This economic tug-of-war mirrors debates in other states, where data centers promise prosperity but often deliver uneven results. In Virginia, for instance, the “data center alley” has boomed, but at the expense of strained utilities and resident discontent. Arizona’s context is unique, with its desert climate amplifying concerns over cooling needs—data centers rely on vast amounts of water for temperature control. Recent news on X amplified stories from Tucson, where a proposed Amazon center was axed after revelations it could lead to higher bills and ecological harm, including threats to local wildlife.

For tech companies, Chandler’s rejection poses strategic challenges. Vantage and similar firms must now navigate heightened community scrutiny, potentially rerouting investments to more amenable locales. Analysts suggest this could accelerate a diversification of data center sites, perhaps toward cooler climates or regions with abundant renewable energy. Still, the AI sector’s growth trajectory remains undiminished, with global demand for computing power projected to double by 2030, according to industry forecasts.

Echoes of Broader Pushback and Future Implications

The Chandler vote has reverberated beyond Arizona, drawing commentary from national figures. A KJZZ article noted how Sinema’s lobbying spotlighted the project, ironically galvanizing opposition. Progressive outlets like Daily Kos, in a post-rejection analysis, framed it as a rebuke to “environmentally devastating” initiatives backed by influential insiders. On X, threads from organizations like More Perfect Union celebrated grassroots victories, detailing how community organizing thwarted corporate plans in multiple cities.

Looking ahead, this incident may influence policy at higher levels. With the Trump administration emphasizing domestic tech dominance, federal incentives for data infrastructure could intensify, potentially clashing with local resistances. Arizona lawmakers are already debating bills to streamline approvals, but Chandler’s example empowers municipalities to assert control. Residents’ groups, buoyed by the win, are now eyeing similar proposals statewide, advocating for impact assessments that prioritize sustainability.

In the tech industry’s relentless march, Chandler’s stand serves as a reminder that local voices can alter trajectories. As AI reshapes economies, the balance between innovation and community welfare hangs in the balance. Sinema’s failed push highlights the limits of top-down influence, while empowering a model of civic engagement that could redefine how America builds its digital future. For now, the desert city has drawn a line in the sand, prioritizing its residents over the siren call of silicon progress.

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Chandler Fashion Center is positioned to become the East Valley’s premier dining destination with a project that elevates the center’s culinary and retail mix inside and out. Today Macerich (NYSE: MAC) – one of the nation’s leading owners, operators and developers of one-of-a-kind retail and mixed-use properties in top markets — announced that the center is launching a redevelopment initiative to reinvigorate the dining and entertainment district near the Harkins Theatres on the south side of the property.

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“Chandler Fashion Center has a long history as a vibrant hub in the East Valley community,” said Monica Greenman, General Manager of the shopping center. “As we approach our 25th year of operations, we’re affirming our continued focus on creating a welcoming gathering space where guests come to indulge in the community’s best food, entertainment and shopping.”

As part of the redevelopment project, Chandler Fashion Center will introduce a new mix of vibrant full-service restaurants and crave-worthy fast-casual concepts with expanded patios for all-season dining. The new dining lineup includes iconic Taiwanese restaurant brand Din Tai Fung, globally renowned for its handcrafted Xiao Long Bao or soup dumplings. With its signature exposed dumpling showcase kitchen and authentic flavors, Din Tai Fung promises an unforgettable hospitality experience, set to open in 2027. Additional culinary brands will be announced in early 2026.

Additional highlights include a remodeled lower-level lawn and event area, designed to host a range of events, from live concerts and family-friendly gatherings to community celebrations. A new interactive splash pad will bring playful energy by day, transforming into a beautifully illuminated water feature at night. Guests can enjoy new shaded retreats surrounded by lush landscaping, cozy fire pits and comfortable lounge seating – all thoughtfully curated to create a welcoming, garden-inspired atmosphere that invites visitors to relax, connect and stay awhile.

In the meantime, the first step toward creating this engaging new courtyard gathering area will be an inviting walking path that provides access from the east parking lot located between the new restaurants and Macy’s. Construction is slated to begin in January and is expected to result in minimal interruptions to shopper experience.

Chandler Fashion Center is continually evolving, bringing shoppers what they want, including the opening of Scheels in 2023 and more recently, prominent high-end brands such as gorjana, TravisMathew and Vuori. Soon, J.Crew Factory will add a new option for men’s, women’s and children’s clothing, and Johnny Rockets will bring its classic flavors to the center’s food court, with an opening planned in early 2026.

Additionally, Chandler Fashion Center will welcome Seafood City, a first-to-market Filipino grocery store with a vibrant selection of in-house restaurants that will serve Pan-Asian savory dishes, bakery treats and popular street foods. Attractions will include live tanks of fresh fish and crustaceans, complimentary cook-to-order service and a one-of-a-kind catch-and-cook experience.

“As a retail hub serving a broad geographic region of the East Valley, Chandler Fashion Center continues to attract a strong mix of retailers that appeal to its dynamic shopper base,” said Kim Choukalas, Senior Vice President, Leasing for Macerich. “As we continue to attract more of today’s most desired brands, we’re also conscious of a trend among shoppers who enjoy spending a day shopping their favorite stores, then winding down with a memorable meal. This project marries the lines between shopping and dining, creating a wholistic entertainment experience.”

The project at Chandler Fashion Center is just the latest example of Macerich’s ongoing investment in high-performing properties in Phoenix. An enhancement project is expected to begin in January at Scottsdale Fashion Square, elevating the Palm Court, blending the central gathering space with the center’s signature luxury aesthetic. The project follows the 2018 debut of the original luxury wing at Scottsdale Fashion Square and 2022 expansion of the luxury experience into the center’s south wing.

Macerich’s retail real estate credentials in Arizona are unparalleled: The company dominates the retail landscape in Arizona with seven regional shopping centers in the Phoenix metro area. In all, Macerich’s Arizona portfolio comprises over 7 million square feet and includes the most iconic and high-performing retail properties in the Southwest, including Arrowhead Towne Center, Chandler Fashion Center, Kierland Commons and Scottsdale Fashion Square. These shopping centers and their retailers employ thousands of people and generate millions of dollars in revenue for their communities.

Former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema's intervention in a local rezoning effort has sparked a fight over local control.

CHANDLER, Arizona — This Arizona suburb sent a searing warning message to Big Tech companies after city officials on Thursday night unanimously rejected a proposed artificial intelligence data center — capping a fight that attracted powerful interests from Silicon Valley and Washington.

Outside political pressure to approve the project, perhaps most significantly from former Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, shined a spotlight on AI industry efforts to influence local decisions around development.

The Chandler City Council last night voted down a request by a New York developer to rezone land to build a data center and business complex. The local battle escalated in October after Sinema showed up at a planning commission meeting to offer public comment warning officials in her home state that federal authority may soon stomp on local regulations.

“Chandler right now has the opportunity to determine how and when these new, innovative AI data centers will be built,” she told local officials. “When federal preemption comes, we’ll no longer have that privilege.”

On Thursday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order targeting state laws regulating AI models. That order, however, did not try to override regulations tied to the nationwide build-out of huge AI data centers for housing servers and next-generation AI chips.

Explaining her no vote, Chandler Vice Mayor Christine Ellis said that she had long framed her decision about the local benefits rather than the national push to build AI. She recalled a meeting with Sinema where she asked point-blank, “what’s in it for Chandler?”

“If you can’t show me what’s in it for Chandler, then we are not having a conversation,” Ellis said before voting against the project.

Even as the Trump administration and major AI companies such as Meta and Microsoft push the construction of data centers and new energy infrastructure to power them, local governments are increasingly pushing back. Several other Arizona cities, including Phoenix and Tucson, have written zoning rules for data centers or placed new requirements on the facilities. Local officials in cities in Oregon, Missouri, Virginia, Arizona and Indiana have also rejected planned data centers.

Trump’s executive order proposes development of a legislative framework to codify federal preemption but states it would not affect state laws related to “AI compute and data center infrastructure, other than generally applicable permitting reforms.”

The Environmental Protection Agency this week also created a team to help data centers move through federal permitting.

The vote in Chandler, however, shows that a significant amount of AI infrastructure still runs through local governments.

“This is not just Chandler. We’re dealing with this all over,” Eric Runnestrand, a Chandler resident opposed to the project, said in an interview. “Having the community show up, it sends a message to the elected officials. They need to feel the people power behind them.”

The local fight gained outsized attention after Sinema offered public comment at two local meetings in Chandler on behalf of New York developer Active Infrastructure, also identifying herself as founder and co-chair of the AI Infrastructure Coalition. The former senator, who works at the law firm Hogan Lovells, said she was working “hand in glove with the Trump administration.”

The AI Infrastructure Coalition is backed by tech and energy giants including Andreessen Horowitz, Microsoft, Meta, ExxonMobil, NextEra and Pinnacle West, which owns Arizona’s largest utility. It’s aimed at advocating for all aspects of AI, including energy, manufacturing and financing.

Sinema did not attend Thursday’s vote. She did speak to Fox News on Thursday and said there is a “massive effort kind of on the left” to spread “massive misinformation” about data centers. She praised the Trump administration for “doing a great job of telling the truth” on data centers and said the water impacts are lower than in the past.

In 2022, Chandler established rules that limit where data centers can be built, a response to community concerns that the power-hungry facilities are too noisy and don’t create enough jobs. The city already hosts 10 data centers.

Active Infrastructure, however, requested that the city rezone a plot of land that currently hosts an abandoned office building in order to build a 422,000-square foot data center campus. The site as planned would also include five new buildings for support staff and flexible use.

Active Infrastructure has not said what companies would use the computing power on the site, but CEO Jeffrey Zygler said the campus could attract advanced tech businesses that would establish offices on the campus to take advantage of their proximity to the computing power.

Although the city’s planning office advised against the rezoning, a zoning board approved the move in a meeting where Sinema offered comment. That left the matter up to the city council.

The project, along with Sinema’s involvement, attracted significant community opposition, with speakers raising concerns about whether the project would use too much water or raise power prices. Residents packed the council chambers, with many holding up signs reading “No More Data Centers.”

According to the city’s planning office, more than 200 comments were filed against the proposal compared to just eight in favor.

Zygler and Active Infrastructure officials in attendance said that their project would be designed to minimize noise impacts and that the project would use a cooling system that minimizes its water use.

Clarification: An update clarified that former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema represented the developer in meetings with city officials.

CHANDLER, AZ — The Chandler City Council unanimously rejected to rezone 10 acres of land for a proposed new data center at their meeting Thursday night.

The project has generated significant public interest, especially after former Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema spoke in favor of the project at an October Planning and Zoning Committee hearing.

Ahead of the vote, Chandler residents balanced the necessity for data centers in modern life, as well as the impacts they have on the environment and communities where they are built.

“Every credit card transaction you do, every time you use an app, I know that’s going through a data center,” Emily Anderson said.

Representatives for the project have said the planned facility would use a closed-loop cooling system, a method they argue requires significantly less water than traditional evaporative cooling.

“This new way of cooling doesn’t use the same amount of water that the others do,” a project representative said during October’s meeting.

However, experts caution that water usage goes beyond what happens at the site itself. Kirsten James, who studies data-center water consumption, says communities must consider all of the impacts of growth.

“We have to look beyond just the four walls of the data centers, with the water use associated with the electricity generation,” James said. “We need to look at the full picture.”

Beyond water, as Arizona continues to attract data-center and semiconductor development, utilities are preparing for massive increases in electricity demand.

APS says that if every proposed data center moves forward, the utility would need to more than double its current service capacity.

“We have anywhere from 4–500 megawatts of data center load online,” said Patrick Bogle, APS Data Center Strategist. “That’s equivalent to 4–500 big box stores.”

Despite the challenges, Valley technology leaders say continued data-center expansion pushes Arizona’s innovation ecosystem forward.

“As they come in, we innovate further, which not only benefits that data center or semiconductor project, but then benefits the entire community,” said Arizona AI entrepreneur Andrew Bart.

CHANDLER, Ariz. - The Chandler City Council has rejected a controversial plan to bring a massive data center to the Valley.

After hours of public comment on Dec. 11, with many people voicing their objections, all seven members of the city council voted against the proposed plan.

What they're saying:

Residents holding signs filled the room to speak against the project, which required the city to vote on rezoning a 40-acre site. The development would've included a 400,000-square-foot data center building on the southwest corner of Price and Dobson roads, plus space for five additional structures.

"I'm here to oppose the data center. I don't believe we should be gambling with the working families of and Arizona's money," resident Rohich Chandrashaker said.

Opponents voiced "grave" concerns over noise, energy usage and the city's water crisis.

"The community is coming out in grave concern because we know we have a water crisis; we've seen electric bills going up and up and up," said Elizabeth Lee, another resident in opposition.

Lexsiri Coronado added, "The water and the energy used in Chandler should be reserved for the people and how it's used should be determined by the people."

The other side:

City officials attempted to reassure the public during the meeting.

Simone Kjolsrud, Chandler's water resources manager, stated that the reported 48,000 gallons per day for the data center is an "absolute maximum" and "a very normal amount of water use for that size of a building."

The data center was projected to create 1,000 jobs.

The debate highlights Arizona's challenge in navigating the digital future while managing resources.

Gov. weighed in on the broader issue, saying, "I don't know the specifics about that data center, but I know that when the permitting is happening, they're considering all the factors if there's enough water, if enough energy, and they have to make it through all of the city permitting to get to even get there. Part of the reason I launched the state energy task force is to take a look at long term, strategically, how we can support the energy demands that we're gonna continue to see with these large load users coming in."