Cleveland Lands $1.6B Hyperscale Data Center by Lakeland

A significant new digital infrastructure project is set to transform Cleveland's industrial landscape, with Lakeland Equity Group spearheading a monumental $1.6 billion investment in a hyperscale data center campus. This ambitious development, spearheaded by Managing Director Sam Khouri, marks one of the most substantial private sector real estate undertakings and technology infrastructure plays in the region's history.

The proposed facility will occupy a sprawling 35-acre site situated between the Slavic Village neighborhood and the city's historic industrial valley. This strategic location, currently under agreement with trucking firm Morabito Enterprises, will house three distinct two-story structures, each designed to offer approximately 300,000 square feet of advanced computing space. The total investment is meticulously allocated, with roughly $1 billion earmarked for the construction of the core data center and its essential infrastructure, while the remaining $600 million will cover crucial pre-construction activities, including land acquisition, design, engineering, permitting, equipment sourcing, and site preparation.

Designed to meet the burgeoning demands of artificial intelligence and cloud computing, the campus will boast an impressive 150 megawatts of power capacity. This output is substantial, capable of powering more than 100,000 average American homes, underscoring the scale of the digital operations it is intended to support. Lakeland Equity Group emphasizes the facility's commitment to delivering "secure, resilient digital infrastructure with advanced power, cooling, and fiber connectivity," tailored for intensive cloud, AI, and enterprise workloads.

Beyond raw capacity, the project integrates forward-thinking sustainability principles. The design explicitly aims to eliminate smoke and fumes, employing closed-loop cooling technologies to minimize environmental impact. Furthermore, the operational model is engineered to preclude truck traffic, with water for cooling to be sourced responsibly from nearby watersheds or a dedicated stormwater tunnel currently under development in the vicinity. This focus on environmental stewardship aligns with growing industry trends towards greener data center operations.

The project's timeline is currently navigating the approval process, with a permit application submitted to Cleveland's Building Department in May 2026. However, the development faces a potential regulatory hurdle in the form of a proposed statewide ballot initiative that could restrict data center power consumption to under 25 megawatts. Despite this, the absence of a specific end-user tenant at this stage does not diminish the strategic importance of this investment for the Midwest's digital capabilities.

This significant commitment from Lakeland Equity Group underscores a broader trend of increasing investment in mission-critical digital infrastructure across the Midwest. The completed facility is poised to become a vital hub for major cloud providers and AI operations across North America, bolstering the region's position in the global digital economy. The development of such large-scale data centers is critical for supporting the exponential growth in data processing and storage needs driven by emerging technologies.