Introduction

In February 2026, Urbana residents learned that New York–based real estate firm Thor Equities planned to build a roughly 460,000-square-foot data center, branded the Urbana Technology Hub, on land near the intersection of State Route 55 and U.S. Route 68, close to the Rittal plant. Thor described it as a single-story building about 40 feet tall, representing about $1 billion in private investment. Texas-based operator CyrusOne later joined the project as an operations partner. The end user has never been disclosed.

The proposal surprised many residents. The groundwork had been laid more than a year earlier. In April 2025, city council added data centers as a permitted use in the M-1 manufacturing district and annexed and rezoned Thor’s property. In November 2025, council approved a Community Reinvestment Area tax abatement for the project. Most residents say they had no idea a data center was coming until the plan was read aloud at a February 2026 council meeting.

Opposition organized quickly around three concerns:

  • Cedar Bog. The rare, groundwater-fed fen lies about one and a half to two miles southwest of the site. The Cedar Bog Association warned that a data center could threaten the groundwater the preserve depends on.
  • Proximity. Urbana Middle School, a senior living center, and residential development all sit near the site.
  • Utilities and transparency. Residents worried about water use, power rates, and noise. They also questioned how long city officials had worked with the developer without public discussion.

Thor and city officials argued the project would bring about $3 million a year in city tax revenue and about $2.8 million a year for Urbana City Schools. They said it would use closed-loop cooling and noise-dampening technology. They also said the end user would pay for any grid upgrades, so local rates would not rise.

Over the following months, the city reversed course. It passed a moratorium, repealed the zoning that permitted data centers, and drew a federal lawsuit from Thor. The dispute has since spread into a November ballot measure and a recall effort against the mayor.

Timeline

Date Event
~Mid-2024 The site at SR 55 and US 68 is purchased, roughly 18 months before the project is publicly announced.
April 2025 City council amends zoning to allow data processing and computing infrastructure as a permitted use in M-1 districts (Ordinance 4621-25). At the same meeting, it annexes Thor’s property and rezones it M-1.
Second half of 2025 Thor purchases two parcels totaling about 133 acres south of SR 55 and west of US 68.
November 2025 Council approves a Community Reinvestment Area agreement with Thor, creating a tax abatement for the project.
February 2026 Thor submits a site plan to the Building and Zoning Board of Appeals, and the board rejects it shortly afterward.
Feb. 17, 2026 City staff read Thor’s project description aloud at council. An emergency moratorium on the agenda is withdrawn by a 5–2 vote. Public comment is overwhelmingly opposed.
Feb. 20, 2026 An online petition to stop the data center launches. It passes 3,600 signatures within days and nears 8,000 by early March.
Feb. 23, 2026 The Cedar Bog Association urges supporters to attend the Planning Commission meeting and contact council members.
March 3, 2026 Before an overflow crowd at the Champaign County Community Center, council passes a 12-month moratorium on new data centers, 6–1.
April 2026 Council creates a study committee on data center impacts. It includes residents and representatives of county government, Urbana City Schools, city staff, and Cedar Bog partners. Thor launches a public website for the project.
April 22, 2026 Council votes unanimously to begin repealing the ordinance that permits data centers on industrial land.
May 4, 2026 Council formally starts the zoning rollback by resolution and sends it to the Planning Commission.
May 2026 Thor files an appeal in Champaign County Court of Common Pleas.
May 18, 2026 The Planning Commission votes unanimously to recommend that council reverse the zoning.
June 5, 2026 Thor exercises a purchase agreement for nearly 100 acres of Organ Farms land (about $3.4 million), a possible southern access point from US 68.
June 16, 2026 Council repeals Ordinance 4621-25, removing data centers as a permitted use.
June 19, 2026 Thor files a federal lawsuit against the city, council, and BZA in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio: Thor Equities, LLC et al. v. City of Urbana, No. 3:26-cv-00196. Thor claims it spent about $19.6 million and assembled about 230 acres, and alleges violations of the city charter, zoning code, state law, and constitutional protections.
Early July 2026 Residents at a packed meeting call for the site to be reset from CRA-2 to a planned unit development, which would require public hearings. The city law director resigns.
July 7, 2026 Two petitions launch. Nicole Nawman’s would amend the city charter to ban hyperscale data centers, and James Cropper’s seeks to recall Mayor Bill Bean. The charter petition clears its signature threshold and is submitted for verification.
Sept. 9, 2026 Legal press groups Urbana’s case with a wave of developer suits claiming data center moratoriums violate due process.
Sept. 14, 2026 Statewide coverage confirms Urbana voters will decide a charter amendment banning data centers that draw more than 7.5 megawatts.
Nov. 3, 2026 General election: the Urbana data center charter amendment is on the ballot.

Sources