Wisconsin's Menomonie City Council has approved a rezoning and annexation request for land in Red Cedar for a data center.

The land in question is located between 650th and 690th avenue, to the north of Interstate 94, and has been annexed and rezoned as Restricted Industrial.

As reported by Civic Media, applicant Balloonist LLC aims to develop a data center on the property. While the council has approved the rezoning, Balloonist does not yet have planning permission for a data center on the land, as no site or construction plan has yet been submitted.

Speaking at the council meeting on August 4, a representative from Balloonist said it does not yet have plans and wouldn't seek to start construction until at least 2027.

Local residents attending the meeting expressed concerns over the health and environmental effects of the proposed data center, noting the potential high water usage of such a facility.

The city council noted that prior to any data center development, an environmental assessment would be required.

There is little to no information about Balloonist LLC available online, including if it represents another company.

Menomonie is located in Dunn County in northwest Wisconsin. Red Cedar itself is a small settlement, with much of the land in the area undeveloped.

Wisconsin as a whole is not a huge data center market, though existing facilities are located around Milwaukee or Madison in the south of the state. The likes of Microsoft, Meta, and Vantage are developing in the Badger State. Ark (formerly Involta), TierPoint, 1547 CSR, and Expedient are also present. WIN Technology operates a data center near Menomonie in Altoona.

In July 2025, QTS revealed plans for a 15-building data center campus in Madison, Wisconsin.