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Stopped or cancelled

Elk River data center in former factory (Swervo)

A developer wanted to turn an empty factory on Industrial Boulevard into a 33 MW data center. The City Council said no to the zoning change in July 2026, and the developer withdrew.

👥 Reported, not confirmed yetSourceLast checked: Oct 7, 2026

Where things stand: City Council rejected the zoning change on July 6, 2026, and the developer then withdrew. The city adopted a one-year pause on Aug. 3, 2026.

🕒 Latest update (Aug 3, 2026): City Council unanimously adopted a one-year pause (moratorium) on data centers.

What we know

  • 📍 Where19178 Industrial Blvd. NW (empty 62,000 sq ft former factory), Elk River, Sherburne County
  • 🏢 CompanyElk River Capital LLC / Swervo Development Corp.
  • ⚡ Power it needs33 megawatts (about as much as 26,400 homes)

What happened so far

  • July 2026
    Developer withdrew its requests for the zoning change and a conditional use permit.
  • July 6, 2026
    City Council unanimously rejected a zoning change that would have allowed the data center in the industrial area.
  • Aug 3, 2026
    City Council unanimously adopted a one-year pause (moratorium) on data centers.

Local votes and rules

⏸️ Pause on new data centers

Elk River paused all data center applications for one year, including rezoning and land use requests. The vote was unanimous. The developer had withdrawn its request before the vote.

Aug 3, 2026

✋ Turned down

Elk River's council said no to changing city rules to allow data centers in industrial zones. Developers had wanted to turn a 60,000 square foot building into a data center. The council asked staff to write a one-year pause instead.

July 6, 2026
🛰️ See it from above

An aerial photo of the area.

Photos: USGS The National Map.

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Where this comes from

  1. Elk River City Council denies data center application and considers moratorium (summary of DCD and local news) · Blandin on Broadband · July 9, 2026
  2. Elk River data center developer withdraws application · Blandin on Broadband · July 18, 2026
  3. Elk River adopts one-year data center moratorium · Blandin on Broadband · Aug 8, 2026
  4. Census geocoder: 19178 Industrial Blvd NW, Elk River · U.S. Census Bureau · Oct 7, 2026

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