Cedar Rapids confirms third data center planned for southwest side

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) - Cedar Rapids Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell confirmed Wednesday that a third data center is planned for the city, with the facility set to be built on the southwest side.

According to municipal permitting records, the project will be built at 1515 33rd Ave. SW, just north of Highway 30. Permit documents identify the entity behind the project as CLOP Cedar Rapids, IA LLC and describe the planned building as nearly 100,000 square feet.

The confirmation comes as Linn County recently adopted a temporary moratorium and new regulations for large data centers. O’Donnell said Cedar Rapids is not considering a similar moratorium because the project complies with the city’s existing zoning.

“As an industrial community, the data centers that we have currently align with who we are as a city and, frankly, where we need to go,” O’Donnell said.

The mayor said the property has been zoned for light industrial use since the early 2000s, making a data center a permitted use under the city’s current zoning regulations.

O’Donnell described the planned facility as being about half the size of a Super Target, making it smaller than the data center buildings currently under construction near The Eastern Iowa Airport.

She also noted that data centers already operate in Marion and Hiawatha, saying facilities like this have been part of the Corridor for years.