Seven markets moved against data centers last month. The five projects that matter are permitted, advancing, or bidding.
| ProjectLok. Issue No. 01 · September 1, 2026 · National Edition | | The Brief Seven markets moved against data centers last month. Loudoun County rejected a 3.25M sq ft campus and opened a moratorium review. Prince William denied a 1,940-acre hub. Fort Worth's council called for a pause. Hillsboro passed Oregon's first data center moratorium. New York enacted a statewide halt on an estimated $10B in projects. For specialty contractors, the implication is geographic. Markets that were pipeline certainties six months ago are now entitlement question marks — and developers are accelerating permits in the markets still open. The five projects below are permitted, advancing, or actively bidding. That's the screen that matters right now. | | This Week's Projects | | Delta Forge 1 — Rapides Parish, LA Developer: Applied Digital · Sector: Data Center · 430 MW | Under Construction · Mid-2027 energization |
A 430 MW build on an aggressive energization timeline in a parish with limited incumbent mission-critical trades. First-mover advantage on MEP and sitework is real here — get prequalified before the packages open. | | | Stargate Michigan — Saline Township, MI Developer: Related Digital / Oracle / OpenAI · $16B | Advancing · Tax abatement cleared July 15 |
A $16B multi-scope campus that just cleared its abatement — the signal that construction packages are about to move. Scale this large means years of concurrent trade awards on a single site. | | | Project Jupiter — Sunland Park, NM Developer: Stack / BorderPlex · Tenant: Oracle · 2.5 GW | Under Construction · Power scope in flux |
Construction is on schedule but the State Land Office just rejected the 17-mile gas pipeline feeding on-site fuel cells. The power generation and electrical packages are headed for emergency rebid. Contractors with fuel cell and paralleling gear experience should be paying attention right now. | | | Mudiita Infra — Ransom Township, PA Sector: Data Center + BESS + Solar · 750 MW The battery-storage and solar scope makes this more than a standard data center — contractors with BESS and energy-systems experience have a distinct edge in the Mid-Atlantic on this one. | | | Sabey Data Centers — Umatilla, OR Developer: Sabey Data Centers · Sector: Data Center · 120 MW | Under Construction · Steel up July 2026 |
First steel went vertical in July. Initial 12 MW online in 2027, first data hall April 2028. Interior MEP, closed-loop cooling, and fit-out packages are the next wave. Pacific Northwest contractors have a clean prequalification window before this gets competitive. | | | These five represent a fraction of what's active nationwide right now. Tracking a specific project or market and want the full read? Hit reply — we read everything. | | Signal Watch Fort Worth's moratorium push and New York's statewide halt are symptoms of the same dynamic: local governments discovering they have limited tools to slow development once state approvals clear. Watch for copycat ballot initiatives in Ohio, Georgia, and Virginia over the next 90 days. For contractors, moratorium risk doesn't kill projects — it compresses timelines, creating a surge of concurrent scopes in the markets still open. | | | By the Numbers 7 Markets that moved against data centers in a single month. The permitting climate hasn't shifted this fast since the 2022 crypto-mining backlash. | | Coming Up Next issue: the Georgia corridor is heating up fast. Project Camellia's 3.2 GW Effingham County campus and Stillwater's 15-building Atlanta play represent over $43B in announced investment — in a state with almost no incumbent mission-critical trade base. We'll break down both and what the labor gap means for contractors positioned to move early. | | ProjectLok A Lok product · Building Intelligence · projectlok.com | |
