Project Lincoln (Oldham County data center)
Also called: Project Lincoln: OC Data Center
A $6 billion data center with up to eight buildings and 600 megawatts was proposed on farmland in Oldham County in 2025. Thousands of residents signed petitions against it. The developer first moved it to a smaller site, then dropped it completely in July 2025.
Where things stand: The developer withdrew the plan in July 2025 after strong local opposition.
🕒 Latest update (July 3, 2025): The developer withdrew the project. It said the project 'will not proceed.' The county kept a pause on data centers while it wrote rules.
What we know
- 📍 WhereFirst planned on 267 acres of farmland at 3557 North Highway 53; later moved to the Sauerbeck Drive-In site on Commerce Parkway (3210 DW Griffith Lane), Unincorporated Oldham County, Oldham County
- 🏢 CompanyWestern Hospitality Partners
- 🌳 Size267 acres
- ⚡ Power it needs600 megawatts (about as much as 480,000 homes)
- 💵 Cost$6 billion
❓ Still unanswered
Nobody has answered these in public yet. Can you help find out?
- Is the same developer or end user looking at other sites in the Louisville area? 🙋 I'll find out
What happened so far
- 2025After pushback, the developer dropped the Highway 53 site and proposed a smaller data center at the Sauerbeck Drive-In site on Commerce Parkway.
- March 2025Western Hospitality Partners announced a $6 billion data center on 267 acres along Highway 53.
- July 3, 2025The developer withdrew the project. It said the project 'will not proceed.' The county kept a pause on data centers while it wrote rules.
Local votes and rules
📜 Data center rules
Oldham County Fiscal Court held a public hearing and second reading on data center zoning rules written by the planning commission on August 18, 2026. Options were to pass the rules, pass changes from magistrates, or put off the final vote until 2027. If put off, the pause on data centers stays in place. The result was not found.
⏸️ Pause on new data centers
Oldham County Fiscal Court voted 4-2 at a special meeting for a 150-day pause on all data center applications. The court removed wording that would have let a pending project go ahead. The pause came after a fight over a planned 600-megawatt data center near La Grange. In August 2026 a news report said the pause was still in place until new data center rules pass.
An aerial photo of the area.
Where this comes from
- $6B data center planned for Oldham County · Spectrum News 1 · April 6, 2025
- Planned data center project in Kentucky's Oldham County relocated and downsized amid backlash · Data Center Dynamics · 2025
- Plans for Oldham County data center project withdrawn · WAVE · July 3, 2025
- Controversial Oldham County data center project dropped after backlash · WDRB · July 2025
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