White Clay Center data center plan near Newark
Also called: White Clay Corporate Center, Verdantas Newark, NCC application 2025-0716
The owner of the White Clay Center office park near Newark filed plans to replace it with three data center buildings on about 44 acres. After neighbors objected, a county councilman made an informal deal to pause the plan. The owner now plans a school in part of the site, but has kept the data center plan alive.
Where things stand: Plan filed with the county in late 2025. Paused by an informal (not binding) deal in June 2026; the owner still wants the plan approved.
🕒 Latest update (Sept 2026): Shelbourne filed plans to turn half of one existing building into a Christina School District school. Its lawyer says the data center plan is still being pursued.
What we know
- 📍 WhereWhite Clay Center Drive off Ogletown Road (Route 273), just outside Newark city limits, across from CarMax, New Castle County
- 🏢 CompanyShelbourne Global
- 🌳 Size44 acres
❓ Still unanswered
Nobody has answered these in public yet. Can you help find out?
- How much power and water would the data center use? 🙋 I'll find out
- Will New Castle County approve the exploratory plan, and do the new county data center rules apply to it? 🙋 I'll find out
What happened so far
- Nov 2025Owner Shelbourne filed early plans with the county to tear down the 7 office buildings and build 3 data center buildings (about 850,000 sq ft).
- June 10, 2026County Councilman Tim Sheldon made a handshake deal with the owner's lawyer to pause the data center plan. The deal is not binding.
- Aug 2026County planners asked the developer to show there is enough power for the site.
- Sept 2026Shelbourne filed plans to turn half of one existing building into a Christina School District school. Its lawyer says the data center plan is still being pursued.
Local votes and rules
🤝 Agreement with the company
County Councilman Tim Sheldon says he made a handshake deal with the developer's lawyer to pause the White Clay Center data center plan near Newark. The deal is not binding and the county is not part of it. In return, the county is expected to approve an early site plan that keeps the land under the old rules, so a data center there would not have to follow the 2026 county data center law. In September 2026 the owner filed plans to put a school program in half of one building, but its lawyer says it still wants the data center plan approved.
📜 Data center rules
County Council voted 12-0 (one member absent) for the county's first data center rules (Substitute 3 to Ordinance 25-101). County Executive Marcus Henry signed it on March 18, 2026. Big data centers may only go in industrial zones and must stay 1,000 feet from homes, or 500 feet if they can meet noise limits. Open-loop cooling is banned unless reclaimed water is used. Owners must clean up the site if they close. The rules are not retroactive, so projects already filed, like Project Washington and the White Clay Center plan near Newark, do not have to follow them.
An aerial photo of the area.
Where this comes from
- Data center complex proposed near Newark · Newark Post · Dec 18, 2025
- Two New Castle County industrial projects may become data centers · Spotlight Delaware · Dec 16, 2025
- Three sites across New Castle explore data center conversions · Delaware Business Times · Dec 18, 2025
- County councilman says Newark data center plan paused after deal · Spotlight Delaware · July 2, 2026
- Previously planned Newark data center site could become part of Christina School District · Spotlight Delaware · Sept 21, 2026
See something wrong? Tell us and we'll fix it.