The Janesville City Council approved a letter of intent with a data center developer to redevelop a former General Motors assembly plant into a data center campus, according to Wisconsin Public Radio.
The approval came Monday night after more than 20 residents spoke against the proposal during a public hearing. Data centers have been the center of much controversy and have been subject to much public outcry.
This is the first step for Colorado-based Viridan Acquisitions LLC to develop the nearly 250-acre site. The site could become home to an 11-building data center campus or an eight-building hyperscale campus. It is expected that the projects would require 800 megawatts of power.
The former GM assembly plant site has been vacant since 2009, and Janesville Economic Development Director Jimsi Kuborn said in a statement that the estimated direct economic effect to the state from the data center could be $2.05 billion.
Who would ultimately use the data center was not disclosed.
