Data Center Planned At Defunct Philly-Area Hospital Faces Pushback
Resident pushback to data centers has seeped into the Philadelphia metro area as local officials contend with a transformative wave of proposals across Pennsylvania.
A 1.3M SF data center plan for the grounds of the defunct Pennhurst State School and Hospital in East Vincent Township has been panned by residents despite its by right status, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
“While we respect the rights of the property owner we believe this decision would bring lasting harm to our community and future generations,” says an online petition created last month by Megan Heiken, who recently bought a home nearby.
The petition has garnered more than 2,400 signatures. It raises concerns about water and electricity use and the impact the campus could have on nearby homes, trails and open spaces.
East Vincent’s mixed-use industrial zoning allows for projects like the proposal, but lawmakers are working on a new ordinance that would put additional guardrails on data center development.
The draft ordinance includes building height restrictions, buffer mandates and limits on how many trees can be cut down.
The proposal for Pennhurst, where the last patient left in 1987 before it was purchased in 2008 and turned into a Halloween attraction, came from Pennhurst Holdings LLC.
“Pennhurst AI is aware of the concerns expressed by the residents of East Vincent Township, and we are committed to working through the Township to address them,” company spokesperson Kevin Feeley told The Philadelphia Inquirer in a statement.
“What we propose is a facility that would be among the first of its kind in the United States: a state-of-the-art data center project that would address environmental concerns while also providing significant economic investment, jobs, and tax rateables as well as other benefits that would directly address the needs of the community.”
More than 14 gigawatts of data center projects have been proposed in Pennsylvania in the year leading up to last month, according to a Bisnow analysis. The commonwealth had well below 1 gigawatt of data center inventory as of last month, according to Avison Young.
Although there has been extensive pushback from residents and local officials in places like northeast Pennsylvania, there is broad bipartisan support for data centers at the state level due in part to the tax revenue they bring.
President Donald Trump and Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro both attended a July event in Pittsburgh, where $36B in data center investments and $56B for related energy projects were announced.
Pennhurst isn't the only defunct Pennsylvania State Hospital site slated for redevelopment. Pinnacle Realty Development Corp. is set to redevelop part of the Norristown State Hospital site in Montgomery County with 453 for-sale townhomes and 288 apartments alongside 36K SF of retail and 200K SF of flex industrial/office space.
