A developer looking to build a $1.5 billion data center near Niagara Falls, New York, wants to change zoning requirements to help push the 140MW project forward.

Niagara Falls Redevelopment (NFR) has filed an application with the City of Niagara Falls for a Planned Unit District (PUD), which would be known as the Data Center at Niagara Digital Campus PUD.

The PUD would allow for more flexible and creative rezoning of land in the area, NFR said.

“We have been working tirelessly on assembling all of the elements to submit this PUD application to the City of Niagara Falls, despite the considerable obstacles we’ve faced along the way,” said Roger Trevino, NFR’s executive vice president.

He added that the PUD application was a “negotiated” one, meaning his company was looking forward “to sitting down with city officials at the earliest opportunity to finalize the details of this exciting economic development project and move forward.”

The Niagara Digital Campus is being put forward by NFR in conjunction with another developer, Canadian firm Urbacon Data Centre Solutions.

First proposed in 2021, the data center would be located at the intersection of Rainbow and John B. Daly Boulevards, and feature about 600,000 square feet (55,700 sqm) of "high-security, technologically advanced data center space," with 140MW of capacity.

A new electrical substation will be built as part of the project, which NFR said will help improve the reliability of the Niagara Falls grid, as well supplying power to the data center.

Despite NFR trumpeting the economic benefits of the development, which it said would create 5,600 construction jobs and 550 permanent positions, the plan has apparently not been universally welcomed in Niagara Falls.

When the data center was first announced in 2021, the local media reported that then Niagara Falls Mayor Robert Restaino had questioned whether a data center was an appropriate use for land close to such a major tourist destination.