A few data center proposals — including a downtown Atlanta project within one of the largest developments in the Southeast — will continue moving forward despite a recently adopted ban on such facilities near key transit points across the city.
The Atlanta City Council approved two pieces of legislation Tuesday to prohibit new data center development within a half-mile of the 22-mile Beltline loop and MARTA hubs, including heavy rail stations and bus-rapid transit stops. The legislation comes in response to metro Atlanta’s growing proliferation of computer storage farms, including multiple controversial projects in fast-changing urban areas.
Some pending projects, however, will be allowed to move forward.
These efforts include a proposal for a 300,000-square-foot data center at Centennial Yards, the $5 billion redevelopment of the Gulch near Mercedes-Benz Stadium and State Farm Arena. A special administrative permit application was filed last week by an affiliate of the project’s developer CIM Group, which aims to build the new server farm at 10 Forsyth St., effectively acting as an expansion to an existing data center by Digital Realty. The rest of the Centennial Yards plan consists of an entertainment district and new residential, hotel and office towers. Atlanta Journal Constitution
