CANNON FALLS, Minn. — A Sept. 8 planning commission meeting is the next step toward approving land use for a proposed data center in Cannon Falls.
"We’re in the beginning of the final stages of the land use approval for the project," said Jon Radermacher, Cannon Falls' city administrator. "The land where the project is intended to go was just annexed."
Radermacher said the project in Cannon Falls is a "little bit ahead" of a similar project proposed in Pine Island. The data center's associated company has not been announced yet.
Cannon Falls has already completed its alternative urban areawide review (AUAR), while Pine Island's is still in process. That means the initial environmental review has been completed.
"We had about 12 people in the area and region make comments (during the AUAR process)," Radermacher said. "We've addressed their concerns as best we can at this point, which were mostly concerns about potential uses."
The next steps, he said, will include rezoning the land from urban reserve — the default zoning when land is annexed, Radermacher said — to industrial. Then there will need to be a conditional use permit, preliminary plat and eventually a planned unit development to outline the exact use.
Radermacher said the city's code really "isn’t designed or built for this."
Behind the project at this point is Tract, a Denver-based company that develops land to be used for data centers. Currently, the company has 10 active projects spread across Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Texas and Virginia. The company is also working to develop data center sites in North Carolina, Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota, according to the company's website.
Calls by the Post Bulletin to Tract's corporate offices were not returned.
Theo Keith, a spokesman for Xcel Energy, which provides residential electricity services in both Pine Island and Cannon Falls, said the power provider continues to see interest from data center developers across Minnesota.
"We’re in active discussions with developers about how we can support economic growth in our state by serving their electricity needs in a way that benefits our existing customers and communities," Keith added.
The Tract project in Cannon Falls, however, is working with a different power provider, Dakota Electric Association.
Radermacher noted that a portion of the property annexed into the city of Cannon Falls is located in Dakota County.
As part of the project, Tract would pay for and build a new substation at the site to help provide the power needs of the technology park. "These infrastructure improvements are designed to ensure stable, uninterrupted service for both new tenants and existing residents," said the city's website outlining the project.
Radermacher said the project could bring a series of benefits to Cannon Falls.
For starters, the build-out of the project could take up to 10 years. This is similar to what is expected with the development in Pine Island. Developers in Cannon Falls note that 1,000 constructions jobs or more could be created over that decade.
As for the final data center and other technology businesses that would inhabit the Cannon Falls Technology Park, the estimate is that 275 long-term jobs would be created. Those, Radermacher said, would be jobs that "average in the six figures."
Those jobs mean more residents, more housing, a bigger tax base and, potentially, students for the school system, Radermacher said.
"The school district is currently in a phase where it has declining enrollment, so they have capacity," Radermacher said. "They would very much welcome new students to the district."
As for housing, phase two of a city-backed development is about to break ground, and a total of 100 lots in that development over four phases would be available. A second private development has 79 lots, some of which have already been sold.
Radermacher said, should land-use approvals move quickly, it's possible Tract could break ground later this fall, but more likely construction begins next year.
"We're very excited for it," Radermacher said. "We still have the approval process to get through, and there are concerns people have that are legitimate."