Rowan Digital Infrastructure has received the go-ahead for two of its data center projects in Frederick County, Maryland.
Located at Quantum Loophole’s site, Bauxite II and Bauxite III will join the company’s first Bauxite data center.
Plans for the second and third additions were announced in May this year.
The Frederick County Planning Commission has now approved both projects. The vote was 6-0-0 and 5-0-1 (one abstention) for Bauxite II and Bauxite III respectively.
According to the county planning commission’s agenda, Bauxite II will span 822,620 sq ft (76,400 sqm) on a 111.5-acre site, while Bauxite III will span 591,913 sq ft (54,990 sqm) on a 55-acre site. Timelines have not been shared.
Both are located adjacent to Bauxite I. The company - formerly known as Rowan Green Data - broke ground on its first project earlier this year and plans on launching a 300MW facility across four single-story buildings totaling 777,150 sq ft (72,200 sqm).
It said the projects will bring $19 million in annual tax revenue for the county and around $57 million in annual tax revenue to the state of Maryland during the construction period.
“We are pleased that the planning commission agreed with county staff and approved our applications today. These decisions are just one important milestone within a comprehensive public process that has spanned over a year,” said Tim Alborg, director of government and community affairs at Rowan.
"Rowan is incredibly grateful for the ongoing collaboration between our subject matter experts and local officials, community leaders, and members of the public. With these applications approved, we are one step closer to bringing the benefits of these projects directly to the community."
Set up in 2021 by Quinbrook and Birch Infrastructure, Rowan is also developing a 300MW campus in Temple, Texas, and a four-building campus in Oregon.
Last month, Charley Daitch took over from John Lucas as CEO.
While Maryland isn't a major data center market, Frederick County is home to the planned Quantum Loophole development. Led by former Terremark and CyrusOne executive Snowhorn, Quantum Loophole has partnered with TPG Real Estate Partners and is developing a 2,100-acre, park on the former Alcoa Eastalco Works aluminum smelting plant site.
Aligned Data had initially planned to build a 264MW data center on the site. However, the company pulled out of the project after the state limited the number of diesel generators it would be allowed to deploy there. Earlier this year, Aligned announced it would move forward with the project after regulatory changes.
Frederick County recently introduced data center bills to restrict where they can be located.