Major 1.4 Million Sq Ft AI Data Center Campus Proposed Near Philadelphia

Major 1.4 Million Sq Ft AI Data Center Campus Proposed Near Philadelphia

January 15, 2026

A significant new data center campus is being planned for the Philadelphia suburbs, highlighting the continued expansion of digital infrastructure into strategic power-rich locations to meet surging demand from artificial intelligence and cloud computing workloads.

According to plans presented to local authorities, a development entity named MCD 7 LLC is proposing a massive data center complex, dubbed "Project Laurel," on a 192-acre site in Limerick Township, Montgomery County. The campus, located approximately 37 miles northwest of Philadelphia, would encompass a total of 1.4 million square feet of space across eight buildings. The proposed facility mix includes five structures of 154,000 square feet each and three larger buildings measuring 202,000 square feet.

A key feature of the proposal is its proximity to a major power source. The site is less than a mile from the Limerick Generation Station, a 2.2-gigawatt nuclear power plant owned by Constellation Energy. The developer has reportedly secured access to 750 megawatts of capacity from local utility PECO to power the campus, which is expected to take up to five years to reach full build-out. While an end-user for the facility is reportedly lined up, the company involved has not been disclosed due to confidentiality agreements.

The project's scale and location underscore a broader industry trend where data center developers are increasingly targeting sites adjacent to reliable, high-capacity power generation, particularly nuclear facilities, to ensure operational stability and support energy-intensive AI applications. This move into the greater Philadelphia region also signals the continued geographic diversification of the North American data center market beyond traditional hubs.

However, the proposal is not without local opposition. A community petition against the development has gathered over 680 signatures, reflecting growing tensions in some regions between rapid digital infrastructure growth and local community concerns.

Source: datacenterdynamics