“No site plan, special permit application, zoning request, or other development application has been submitted to the town for review,” Mr. D’Alessando stated. 

He later added that town officials have been advised that the town’s current electrical infrastructure would not support the data center project’s power demands. Published reports state that the East Fishkill data center would require an electrical capacity similar to the Cricket Valley power plant in Dover, NY, which began operations in April 2020.

“While property owners and private developers may explore concepts or hold preliminary discussions regarding potential future uses of land, such conversations do not constitute an approved project or an active development proposal,” Mr. D’Alessando explained.

The Journal News and other media outlets have reported on a possible 1-gigawatt data center project being proposed by Treetop Development on a wooded site where the company has been seeking to secure approvals for a large warehouse project. However, those plans for a now-scaled-down 765,000/sf warehouse development have been delayed due to a warehouse moratorium imposed by the town in 2024, which has been extended until June 30, 2026.

Locally, Rockland County has seen a number of data center developments, including projects by DataBank and JP Morgan in Orangeburg, with DataBank looking to build another in the county. However, data center construction, which is on the rise, has mainly occurred outside of the New York metro region and is facing backlash.

In February, New York State Sen. Liz Krueger (D-WF-28SD) in Manhattan) and State Assemblymember Dr. Anna r. Kelles (D-AD125) in Ithaca, NY, introduced legislation that would impose a three-year moratorium on the development of data center projects over 20 megawatts in New York State.

On March 25, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-14AD) of the Bronx and Queens announced the AI Data Center Moratorium Act, legislation that would enact a reasonable pause to the development of AI to ensure the safety of humanity.

More than 100 local communities around the country have enacted moratoriums on data centers and 12 states are studying whether to impose statewide moratorium proposals.

Earlier this year, Cushman & Wakefield reported that the data center sector continues to rapidly expand, but is facing headwinds.

“Across the region, governments, utilities and local jurisdictions are introducing new regulatory guardrails and infrastructure requirements designed to oversee power demand, land and natural resource use, and long-term grid stability, the report stated. “Regulatory changes are increasingly shaping how and where development occurs. New permitting rules, zoning adjustments, infrastructure cost-sharing requirements, and local moratoriums are slowing approvals in several established markets and pushing activity toward tertiary locations where power availability, permitting timelines, and land availability provide faster paths to deployment.”

Cushman & Wakefield notes that the Americas host 43.4 GW of operational data capacity with nearly 94% located in the United States. There are currently 25.3 GW under construction and nearly 90% of the space is pre-committed prior to delivery.

Northern Virginia continues to lead global development activity, while emerging power-advantaged markets such as West Texas and tertiary U.S. regions are gaining momentum, the real estate company reported.