Updated October 22, 2026, with the October 20 council vote to table the settlement, a parcel map and deed dates from county records, and a correction to the site purchase date. Earlier update (October 11) added the proposed settlement, the October 6 council meeting, and earlier events reported by the Urbana Daily Citizen.

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, south of the Rittal plant. Thor described 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, and that it would use closed-loop cooling and not raise local utility rates.

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 It passed a moratorium, repealed the zoning that permitted data centers, and drew a federal lawsuit from Thor.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 spread into a November ballot measure to ban data centers and a recall election against the mayor. In late September, court-ordered mediation produced a proposed settlement. Its terms, made public in early October, would allow up to 2 million square feet of data center space, more than four times the original proposal, in exchange for up to $50 million in payments to the city. On October 20, council voted 4–3 to table it. The settlement can return at council’s November 3 meeting, the same day voters decide the data center ban and the mayoral recall.

Site Map

Parcel map of Thor Equities land in south Urbana, south of SR 55 and west of US 68

The Champaign County Auditor’s parcel records show three parcels, 144.7 acres in all, held by two Thor Equities LLCs. All three are mailed to Thor Equities at 25 W 39th St, New York. Together they run from SR 55 south and east to US 68, beside the Urbana City Schools parcel at 1673 S US 68.

Parcel Owner of record Acres Recorded sale Price
K48-25-11-01-30-001-00 Urbana Owner I LLC (taxpayer: Thor Equities LLC) 47.637 Aug. 22, 2025 $2,143,665
K48-25-11-01-30-006-00 Urbana Owner II LLC (c/o Thor Equities) 90.000 June 12, 2026 $3,398,150 (one sale, both parcels)
K48-25-11-01-30-005-00 Urbana Owner II LLC (c/o Thor Equities) 7.090 June 12, 2026  
Total   144.727   $5,541,815

The two Owner II parcels match the “nearly 100 acres of Organ Farms land (about $3.4 million)” in the timeline below.

The hatched parcel to the west is 85.6 acres owned by Highland55 Investments LLC of Columbus, sold in November 2025 for $3,210,713. The county record does not name Thor. Its size is the reason it is shown. It plus the 47.6-acre parcel make about 133 acres, the figure reported for Thor’s 2025 purchases. All four parcels together total about 230 acres, the figure Thor gave in its federal lawsuit. Whether Highland55 is connected to Thor is not confirmed.

Boundaries come from the county auditor’s parcel layer as of Oct. 22, 2026. Lots under one acre are omitted from the drawing.

Timeline

Date Event
~2024 WDTN reports the site was secured about a year and a half before the February 2026 announcement. No sale was recorded then. The first deed to a Thor entity was recorded Aug. 22, 2025, so the 2024 date likely reflects a purchase agreement rather than a closing.
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.
Aug. 22, 2025 Urbana Owner I LLC, whose tax bills go to Thor Equities, records its purchase of 47.6 acres at SR 55 and US 68 from Brand Investments Ltd. for $2,143,665 ($45,000 an acre).
Nov. 18, 2025 Highland55 Investments LLC of Columbus buys the adjoining 85.6 acres from Brand Investments for $3,210,713 ($37,500 an acre). WDTN later reports that Thor bought two parcels totaling 133 acres in the second half of 2025, which matches these two sales, but the county record does not name Thor as owner of this parcel.
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 application. The city deems it incomplete.
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 (Resolution 2727-26). It runs to March 2027.
April 2026 The Board of Zoning Appeals rules against Thor’s application. Council creates the Data Center Moratorium Committee, co-chaired by Bryce Carafa and Joe Buckalew, to study impacts and recommend regulations. 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 administrative appeal of the BZA decision in Champaign County Common Pleas Court. Members of a citizen coalition later intervene in that case.
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. The deed to Urbana Owner II LLC is recorded June 12: two parcels, 97.1 acres, $3,398,150.
June 16, 2026 Council unanimously repeals Ordinance 4621-25, removing data centers as a permitted use in the M-1 district.
June 19, 2026 Thor files a federal lawsuit against the city, council, and BZA: Thor Equities, LLC et al. v. City of Urbana, No. 3:26-cv-00196 (S.D. Ohio). Thor says it spent $19.6 million and assembled about 230 acres, and claims vested rights to build.
July 7, 2026 Law Director Mark Feinstein resigns, effective Aug. 7. Matthew Watson later serves as interim law director. The same day, residents launch two petitions: Nicole Nawman’s charter amendment to ban data centers, and James Cropper’s recall of Mayor Bill Bean.
July 17, 2026 The Board of Elections certifies the recall petition for the Nov. 3 ballot.
July 20, 2026 In Thor’s Common Pleas appeal, the court finds the record incomplete and orders a full transcript of the April 13 BZA hearing added at Thor’s expense. It sets a briefing schedule: Thor’s brief by Sept. 2, the city’s response by Oct. 2, and Thor’s reply later in October.
July 27, 2026 Mayor Bean issues a public statement calling the recall allegations “false” and “distorted.”
Aug. 4–5, 2026 Council approves placing the charter amendment on the ballot; a typographical error sends it to the Ohio Secretary of State for review. Candidates file to replace Bean if he is recalled.
Aug. 31, 2026 The Secretary of State clears the charter amendment for the ballot. It would ban data center construction in the city outright, exempting only a single company’s in-house facility drawing less than 7.5 megawatts.
September 2026 A citizen coalition (the “Urbana Coalition”) moves to intervene in the federal case, arguing Thor has no vested rights. The motion is put on hold during mediation.
Sept. 21 and 25, 2026 Court-ordered mediation sessions are held between the city and Thor.
Sept. 29, 2026 The city announces that mediation produced a proposal from Thor for council to consider. No details are released.
Oct. 4, 2026 Mayor Bean issues an open letter summarizing the proposed settlement and calling it “a good deal.” Terms include Thor releasing claims it values at over $115 million, payments to the city of up to $50 million, no CRA tax abatement, and a Thor-funded environmental study.
Oct. 6, 2026 Early voting begins. The Moratorium Committee co-chairs ask council to table any vote until their written findings are delivered in early 2027. Council receives the MOU in executive session but does not vote, though the MOU called for approval by Oct. 7.
Oct. 7–8, 2026 Opponents obtain the MOU text. It allows up to 2 million net interior square feet in phases, with generators, substations, and cooling equipment excluded from that total. Payments would be $5 million at the Phase One building permit, then $20 million, $15 million, and $10 million at certificates of occupancy for Phases One through Three.
Oct. 12, 2026 The Urbana Daily Citizen reprints a Sidney Daily News story on Grid Growth Ventures’ proposed 765-kilovolt transmission line, noting it is the same project proposed for Champaign County. Construction is planned to begin in 2027 on lines carrying power from Indiana to Ohio substations serving data centers, factories, and homes.
Oct. 20, 2026 After about 90 minutes in executive session, council votes 4–3 to table the settlement. Stephanie Truelove, Cledis Scott, Patrick Thackery, and Amy Jumper vote to table. Residents hold “No Deal” signs, and the Moratorium Committee again asks for time, saying its findings point to a substantial health burden from pollution. Thor global COO Melissa Gliatta tells council the company has invested about $19.6 million. WDTN headlines the vote as council choosing to fight the lawsuit.
Nov. 3, 2026 General election: the data center charter amendment and the mayoral recall are on the ballot. Council’s regular meeting falls the same day, and the tabled settlement can come back then. Council can also table it again.

Open Questions

  • Settlement vote. Council tabled the MOU on Oct. 20 by a single vote. Will it take the MOU up again on Nov. 3, before the election results are known and before the Moratorium Committee delivers its findings?
  • Land ownership. Thor says it assembled about 230 acres. County records show 144.7 acres in Thor-named LLCs. The 85.6-acre Highland55 Investments parcel would close the gap, but the county record does not tie it to Thor.
  • Project size. The MOU allows up to 2 million square feet, more than four times the 460,000 square feet originally described, with power, cooling, and generator equipment excluded from that limit.
  • Charter amendment. It is unclear how a ban approved by voters would interact with a federal consent decree entered before the election.
  • Lawsuits. As of Oct. 22, there is no reported ruling in the federal case or the Common Pleas appeal. Briefing in the Common Pleas appeal was scheduled to finish in late October. The citizen coalition’s motion to intervene in the federal case is pending.
  • Recall ballot. August reports listed Eugene Fields Jr. and Nicole Nawman as replacement candidates; October coverage lists Fields as the sole candidate.

Sources