A $1 billion data center planned for Brookhaven, Long Island, is set to be held up by two moratoria.

Developer Wildflower, through its WF Industrial subsidiary, was seeking to build the 549,000 sq ft (51,003 sqm) data center on a 79-acre plot near the village of Yaphank, adjacent to the Long Island Expressway’s north service road. The site is currently used for warehousing.

But the project is in limbo after New York’s governor, Kathy Hochul, imposed a statewide, year-long moratorium on data center projects of 50MW or more. The Yaphank development would be 176MW at full build-out.

In a separate development, local politicians on Brookhaven’s town board have voted for an 18-month data center moratorium, running until January 2028, while it considers updating its town code to account for digital infrastructure projects.

This local moratorium was approved unanimously by board members after a five-hour public meeting on Thursday, which saw 60 people speak out against data centers. The meeting was attended by 300 people, according to local reports.

In a statement to South Shore Press, Michael Bowden, Wildflower's director of development, said the company was reviewing the impact of the state-wide moratorium, but did not elaborate on whether it would attempt to move forward with the Brookhaven scheme. Bowden said the data center would use a closed-loop water system, meaning it would put minimal strain on local resources.

Wildflower is a developer of commercial property, but the Brookhaven project is the only data center listed on its website. According to the site, the data center was due to open in 2024.