HAMILTON, OH – Hamilton wanted a data center.
The Butler County city of around 65,000 had set aside almost 30 acres in an "innovation district" for it. The city, which runs its own electric utility,had lined up the developer. It expected $1 billion in investments.
And then the project fell apart.
What happened in this city about 30 miles north of Cincinnati shows how volatile the quest for data centers can be. While there was some public opposition to the project, that wasn't what killed it. And the data center wouldn't have gobbled up farmland; it was destined for an empty lot in a city eager for development.
Despite years of work in Hamilton, the project quietly died after a New York City-based developer took over the project. That company tried
to quadruple its capacity amid surging demand for data centers, driven by the artificial intelligence boom.
And that was too big for Hamilton.
Ohio has 240 data centers in various stages of development, ranking sixth in the nation,according to Data Center Map. And more could be coming to the state, with the office of the Ohio Consumers' Counsel estimating that companies will invest $40 billion more in data centers by 2030.
But many of these projects could face uncertain futures as cities, enticed by economic investment, scramble to figure out how to support the energy- and water-intensive data centers.
Cincinnati developer begins project
Cincinnati-based developer Logistix first entered a sale and development agreement with the city in July 2024. In this agreement, obtained by The Enquirer through a public records request, Logistix agreed to pay $65,000 per acre for the land. Logistix agreed to invest around $15 million into the project and employ at least 10 full-time employees.
Almost immediately, the project faced backlash from Hamilton residents, who, like others in communities across the country, worried about noise, electricity and water use. But city officials assured them in public meetings that residents' electric costs wouldn't rise and the city would weigh all the benefits and risks before making a final decision on the center. Hamilton is the only Ohio city that operates its own electric, natural gas, water and wastewater utilities.
A New York City developer takes over
Then, a New York-based investment firm that had recently launched a nationwide effort to build more hyperscale data centers across North America joined the project.
A subsidiary of Wharton Equity Partners signed an agreement with the city in July 2025 to take over, according to records. An arm of the company, Wharton Digital, announced a partnership with developer LightHouse Data Centers to create more data centers across the U.S. seven months before.
Douglas Swain, president of Logistix, said he fully handed the project off to Wharton Equity Partners toward the end of 2025.
Hamilton can't 'reliably support' data center
When it took over, Wharton also wanted to quadruple the data center's capacity, Swain said. He said he initially proposed just 40-80 megawatts for the data center, but Wharton wanted it to be able to use over 200 megawatts.
However, studies showed the city's power system couldn't reliably support this ask.
A December 2025 power system study found that Hamilton's existing power system is "not configured to reliably support any additional datacenter load."
A different study from January 2026 looked at ways the city could modify its existing transmission lines to accommodate the center but still found that it would increase the risk of power outages, require more construction and cost the city over $29.7 million.
During a Hamilton City Council meeting in January, City Manager Craig Bucheit said an impact study showed it would take at least 24 months to deliver 45 megawatts of electrical power for the data center. The developers wanted to know if it could receive at least 240 megawatts.
"What we do know is that it's going to take a significant amount of time, money and infrastructure to meet the project needs that have been set out," Bucheit said during the meeting.
After receiving the impact study results in January, Bucheit said the developers asked to pause future studies.
Months later, Wharton terminated its development agreement with the city in May, according to Mallory Greenham, Hamilton's director of economic development.
Records show that Wharton terminated its contract with the city shortly before its "Due Diligence Period" − the time available for developers to inspect and study the property − was set to expire on June 30, 2026. Wharton would have had to close on the property by Dec. 31, 2026.
A representative for Wharton Equity Partners did not respond to two emails, a phone call and a text seeking more information on the group's decision to not move forward with the project.
In the agreement termination notice, obtained by The Enquirer, Wharton did not include a specific reason behind the decision not to move forward.
"This decision was made only after careful review and consideration, and we remain grateful for the time andeffort the City and its team have devoted to the project," the group said in the notice.
Data center part of 'innovation district'
The data center was supposed to be a major part of the Hamilton Innovation District, a project between the city and Miami University Hamilton to develop the area around the university's regional campus.
The 230-acre innovation center includes the Miami University Hamilton campus and the former Vora Technology Park. Miami University purchased the technology park in 2024, transforming it into a school focused on advanced manufacturing for Miami and Butler Tech students.
The Innovation District Master Plan from 2025 included 31 acres dedicated for the data center.
A page on Wharton Equity Partner's website appears to reference the now-abandoned data center plan. The page said Wharton Digital was developing a data center in the Midwest with a capacity up to 240 megawatts. The two-story data center would be on land "owned by the municipality which also owns the power utility." The data center would also be part of the "municipality's 'Innovation District' which includes the campus of a major Midwest university" − all characteristics that match the project in Hamilton.
"WD plans to integrate the project into the fabric of the district and provide students with interactive learning opportunities regarding data centers and artificial intelligence," the page read.
Alecia Lipton, Miami University director of media and public relations, said in an email that the university wasn't involved in conversations with Wharton or the city "about a data center in Hamilton."
"We remain committed to working with the City of Hamilton to support the development of the Hamilton Innovation District and igniting economic growth in the region," Lipton said.
What's next for the site?
The data center would have been built on approximately 29 acres off 1380 University Boulevard. The land is owned by the city.
Swain said the number of employees would have depended on the ultimate end user. In September 2024, developers estimated the two-story data center would have employed between 10 and 50 people, according to city plan commission documents. Logistix later estimated it could employ over 100, according to the Cincinnati Business Courier.
The 2024 agreement said the data center would "enhance the economic development of the City, further the health, safety and welfare of its residents, create jobs and enhance tax revenues for the City."
Greenham said there are no active projects on the city-owned site but that its zoning would permit other commercial and industrial buildings.
"The city actively seeks to attract businesses that contribute to local employment growth strengthen the municipal tax base, or support community-owned utilities," she said in the email.
Swain said he still thinks the site could support a smaller data center. He said he's told the city he's interested in moving forward with a different data center if the city allows it.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: How a $1 billion data center fell apart in Ohio
