Major Data Center Project Planned for Southern Ohio, Potentially Involving Fortune 100 Tenant

Major Data Center Project Planned for Southern Ohio, Potentially Involving Fortune 100 Tenant

January 9, 2026

A significant new data center campus is being planned for Southern Ohio, highlighting the continued geographic expansion of digital infrastructure beyond traditional hubs. The move underscores the industry's search for favorable power, land, and economic conditions to support the relentless growth driven by cloud computing and artificial intelligence.

According to local reports and a public announcement from the Scioto County Commission, a company operating under the affiliate name Tilted Gate LLC is targeting the Franklin Furnace area, specifically near Haverhill, for a major development. The proposed campus is slated to encompass 500,000 square feet (approximately 46,450 square meters) and represents a potential investment of $1 billion.

The scale of the project is reflected in the substantial incentives under consideration. The county commission is scheduled to vote on January 22 on a proposed 15-year payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) agreement. This deal would grant the project a 75 percent tax abatement in exchange for an annual payment of $500,000. While further details about Tilted Gate LLC remain undisclosed, the commission confirmed during a public meeting that discussions have been ongoing with a "Fortune 100 tech company" since mid-2025. Officials cited a non-disclosure agreement as the reason for limited information but noted that a separate data center operator has also expressed interest in the same privately-owned site.

This development is part of a broader wave of activity in the region. In nearby Pike County, a separate proposal by New Day Data Centers LLC has emerged for a campus at the Department of Energy's Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant. This 640-acre former uranium enrichment site was among 16 federal locations identified last year for potential rapid data center development. The Scioto County project, situated on the Ohio River border with Kentucky, would join a growing roster of facilities in the state, which already hosts cloud giants like Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Meta, as well as numerous colocation and wholesale providers concentrated around Columbus.

The potential arrival of a hyperscale-caliber facility in Scioto County signals a strategic shift for Ohio's data center landscape, bringing high-tech investment and jobs to a more rural part of the state. It also exemplifies the increasing competition among regions to attract capital-intensive digital infrastructure projects through tailored incentive packages.

Source: datacenterdynamics