What’s New in the Metro · Tracker
Data Center Watch
Data center proposals, rezonings, utility deals and local rules across the Kansas City area, newest first. Updated November 13, 2026 from the 24 items on our city pages.
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Want the background? Our longer explainer, KC Metro Data Center Watch, covers how these projects work. This tracker is the running list of what each city and county proposed and decided.
Council sends data center ban and battery storage ban to voters in March
At its Nov. 12, 2026 meeting, the Edgerton City Council voted to place two citizen petitions before voters as submitted: one banning high-impact data centers and one banning Tier 2 and Tier 3 battery energy storage systems. Both go to an in-person special election in March 2027, according to the city. The council also authorized an appeal of the Nov. 3 district court ruling on the data center petition if needed, which the city says would not stop the election.
Data center rezoning heads to Nov. 30 public hearing
A public hearing is set for 5 p.m. Nov. 30, 2026, on a request to rezone five parcels, two of them owned by the city, from R-1 residential to I-1 industrial for a proposed data center. The Planning Commission will be asked to recommend a Digital Infrastructure Overlay District for them, and related code changes would allow data centers in I-1 only where that overlay is approved.
Council delays Patmos data center lease vote again, now set for Nov. 16
On Nov. 2, 2026, the City Council voted 6-0 to postpone a resolution approving the assignment of the city-owned lease at 2500 South Little Blue Parkway in the EastGate Commerce Center, a Chapter 100 property, to Nov. 16. The assignment from NorthPoint Development would let Patmos move forward with a proposed 100-megawatt, 285,000-square-foot data center, starting with a 17.5-megawatt first phase. The item was first postponed on Oct. 19.
Source: City of Independence (Nov. 2 council action agenda) →
Emporia voters back data center and battery storage bans, reject rec center sales tax
In unofficial Nov. 3 results, Emporia voters approved a 10-year ban on high-impact data centers, 4,346 to 2,891, and a 10-year ban on Type 2 and Type 3 battery energy storage systems, 4,067 to 3,117. A quarter-cent sales tax for a new recreation center and updates to Lee Beran Recreation Center failed, 3,874 no to 3,333 yes. Results become final after the county canvass.
City Council unanimously rejects 384-foot downtown data center tower
On Nov. 12, 2026, the City Council voted unanimously against Ordinance 260870, the development plan for a 20-story, 384-foot data center tower with ground-floor retail at 10th Street and Central Avenue. The plan would have replaced the National Register-listed Western Newspaper Union Building. The City Plan Commission and the council’s neighborhood committee had both recommended against it.
State, city and school reviewers weigh in on Compass data center plans
Shawnee County closed its internal and outside review comment period on the Compass Datacenters conditional use application (CU-26-203) on Friday, Oct. 30, 2026. On Nov. 9, 2026, the county posted review comments from KDHE, the Kansas Department of Agriculture’s water resources division, the City of Topeka, Auburn-Washburn USD 437, Shawnee Heights Fire District and county Public Works and Environmental Health. The county page still lists no public hearing date.
Compass files revised data center plans; still no hearing date
Shawnee County closed its review comment period on the Compass Datacenters conditional use application (CU-26-203) on Oct. 30, 2026, with comments from the City of Topeka, KDHE, Auburn-Washburn USD 437, Shawnee Heights Fire District, county Public Works and others. In a Nov. 9 update, the county posted those comments plus updated Compass exhibits dated Oct. 28: revised site plans, an operations plan narrative, emergency action plans and a new Evergy substation letter. The county’s case page still lists no public hearing date or staff report, so the paperwork is moving faster than the calendar.
Mayor: No city water commitment for Compass data center outside Topeka
Mayor Spencer Duncan said a Friday meeting between city staff, a legal representative and Rural Water District 3 board members about water service for the proposed Compass data center was not authorized and created no city position or commitment. The project sits outside city limits under Shawnee County zoning, and no annexation request is before the city. Topeka’s one-year moratorium on data centers inside city limits remains in place, and since Aug. 11 the Council must approve any city water service to data centers outside the city.
Builder seeks temporary construction-use permit at the 196th Street data center site
Lemartec Construction Operations has applied for a temporary construction use permit (TCU2026-0002) at 31800 W. 196th Street, the address of the DAMAC data center plat. The application is on the consent agenda for the Planning Commission’s Nov. 10, 2026 meeting at City Hall.
Planners hold off on Beale’s next two data center buildings
On Oct. 27 the De Soto Planning Commission voted 7-0 to table the site plan for Beale Infrastructure’s Phase 2. The plan covers Buildings 3 and 4 along Edgerton Road and 95th Street, each about 865,000 square feet on roughly 20 acres. Commissioners questioned the sound study and asked for more buffering on the east side. The plan goes back to the Planning Commission at its next meeting, set for Nov. 24.
Digital Realty’s second building tabled after noise and screening questions
The Planning Commission voted 7-0 on Oct. 27 to table the site plan for Digital Realty’s Phase 2 (Project Jayhawk). It proposes a single-story data center of nearly 1 million square feet with 250 parking spaces. The applicant withdrew a battery storage system from the plan and agreed to a sound study after the building opens. Commissioners raised concerns about screening walls and sound study assumptions, and the plan returns at the next meeting, set for Nov. 24.
Osawatomie data center plan grows to 283 acres, drops tax breaks
Alcove Development’s Project Catalyst data center, planned across from Osawatomie State Hospital in southern Miami County, has grown from 115 to 283 acres. As of Oct. 6, 2026, Osawatomie had removed planned industrial revenue bonds and a property tax abatement of up to 50% from its agreement, and expected water use was cut from 1 million to 800,000 gallons a day. No formal application had been filed; the city council and planning commission will review the project once one is submitted.
Project Bluestem data center: no county decision yet
As of early October, Leavenworth County had not acted on Cloverleaf Infrastructure’s proposed Project Bluestem, a data center campus of about 1,000 acres near Tonganoxie that would be paired with a gas-fired power facility. Residents continue to oppose the project, and no vote or hearing date had been announced.
De Soto hires Black & Veatch to review its noise rules as data centers arrive
The City Council approved an agreement with Black & Veatch for an independent industrial noise and acoustical standards study. The study will review the city’s noise ordinance and zoning rules, compare them with other communities, and look at how to measure noise, including low-frequency noise. Phase 1 runs through January 2027, and Phase 2 recommendations are due by March 2027. The city says the study will include presentations to the Planning Commission, the City Council and the public.
Data center developer offers every De Soto household up to $1,000 a year
Digital Realty, which plans a hyperscale data center on about 300 acres in Astra Enterprise Park near the Panasonic plant, says it would give every De Soto household a credit of up to $1,000 a year for 10 years toward property tax or utility bills, about $20 million in total. The city would help distribute the credits, and no money would come from the city’s general fund. The project is not fully approved. A tax increment financing (TIF) hearing is expected at the Nov. 19 City Council meeting.
Nov. 19: public hearing on Digital Realty’s data center plan
The City Council has scheduled a Nov. 19, 2026, public hearing on Project Plan 3 for Digital Realty’s proposed data center campus in Astra Enterprise Park. The first phase calls for about 3 million square feet in up to nine buildings on roughly 280 acres, with about 250 permanent jobs. The Planning Commission reviewed the site plan for Digital Realty North on Sept. 22.
Beale data center switches to closed-loop cooling
On Oct. 1, the City Council approved a supplemental agreement with Mt. Sunflower Properties (Beale) for its data center campus. Beale now plans a closed-loop cooling system, which cuts expected peak water demand from 6 million to about 300,000 gallons per day. The city also negotiated about $9.4 million in water infrastructure and a Community Betterment Fund of up to $20 million: $2 million is due when Phase 1 building permits are issued, and up to $18 million is tied to Phase 2 milestones.
Planning and Zoning takes up data center regulations
The Planning and Zoning Commission’s September 1, 2026 agenda listed discussion of data center regulations, a long-range 5- and 10-year plan, and a presentation from Fairlane Contractors for Apex Development at 101 N. Main Street. Alderman Houchen also told the Board of Aldermen in August and September that he is still researching data centers. No vote or adopted rules have been published.
Data center deal scaled back as two parcels are annexed
On Sept. 24 the City Council approved an amendment to the Alcove pre-development agreement that cuts the projected water need from 1,000,000 to 80,000 gallons per day, drops the requested power from 50-150 MW to 0 MW, and removes industrial revenue bonds and the up-to-50% property tax abatement. The council also annexed two parcels on W. 335th Street that are part of the proposed site, on the condition that the project receives its approvals and permits. Staff said in October that zoning applications are expected within four to six weeks.
More than 1,000 turn out as county weighs Project Bluestem data center
Leavenworth County commissioners held a nearly three-hour public forum at the county fairgrounds on Sept. 16 about Project Bluestem, a proposed hyperscale data center and power plant on more than 1,000 acres south of Tonganoxie near the I-70 interchange. About 65 people spoke. The project is early in the county’s application process, a prior moratorium on new data center applications has expired, and the county has not set a decision timeline.
Shawnee County deems Compass data center application complete
Shawnee County Land Use & Development deemed Compass Datacenters’ conditional use permit application (case CU-26-203) complete on Sept. 9, 2026, after the company filed revised site plans, an operations plan and an Evergy service letter on Aug. 28. The site is on SW 85th Street in the Wakarusa area southwest of Topeka, not near Willard. The county says completeness is not a decision on the project; staff and an independent engineering firm are now reviewing it, and no public hearing has been scheduled.
Data centers discussed, no project filed
The Planning Commission talked about data centers in April, May and August 2026 but took no vote. At the Aug. 18 meeting the city administrator said no Greenwood zoning district allows data centers and a rezoning request would not be accepted. No moratorium was adopted and no project has been filed. See the metro Data Center Watch.
Shawnee County pauses final action on new data center applications until February 2027
On Aug. 13, 2026, Shawnee County commissioners voted 2-1 for a temporary moratorium on data center applications that runs until Feb. 17, 2027. Applications can still be filed and the planning commission can still hold hearings, but the county will not take final action during the pause. In September, commissioners voted to hire an engineering firm to review data center applications independently, with the applicant paying for the review. The application that started the debate, from Compass Datacenters, is for a site on SW 85th Street southwest of Topeka.
Miami County weighs pause on data centers and energy projects
Presiding Commissioner George Pretz asked the Miami County Commission to consider a moratorium on data centers, solar arrays, wind farms and battery storage in unincorporated areas of the county while regulations are written. KSHB later reported in May 2026 that the commission approved a data center moratorium earlier in the year.
We report what was proposed and decided and don’t take sides. Every item links to its source: city agendas and minutes, official city news or established local reporting. Status is as of the date shown; a vote that has not happened yet is labeled that way. Nothing here predicts home values.
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