A limited liability company linked to a data center developer purchased 200-plus acres along Interstate 380 in Covington Twp. at the site of the proposed Project Gold data center campus.
Doylestown-based Goldsboro Land LLC, which shares an address with Project Gold developer 1778 Rich Pike LLC, spent $2.5 million to acquire nearly 209 acres west of Interstate 380 and north of Clifton Beach Road, according to property transactions recorded Monday. Goldsboro Land, 2003 S. Easton Road, Suite 304, Doylestown, purchased 104.35 acres from Judge Family Estates LLC for $1.5 million, and bordering that property to the north, it purchased another 104.35 acres from Adam and Karen J. Kieselowsky for $1 million, according to the deeds. Frances Judge and Patrick Judge signed the deed as managing member and member, respectively, of the family estate.
With the latest acquisitions, Goldsboro Land now owns more than 300 contiguous acres bordering the west side of Interstate 380 in Covington Twp. The limited liability company previously purchased close to 94 acres from Eureka Stone Quarry Inc. for $10, according to the Lackawanna County assessment database and a property transaction recorded Dec. 30. An attached realty tax transfer form values the land at $3.22 million. The land is immediately north of the Kieselowsky property and southeast of the stone quarry.
The properties now owned by Goldsboro Land fall into a data center, energy and technology district that permits data centers as conditional uses in Covington Twp. Township supervisors amended their zoning ordinance in July to address data centers. Conditional use designations require developers to attend public hearings to testify about their projects while adhering to conditions established by the municipality. The hearings also allow affected parties and municipal officials to question the developer, with residents having the chance to testify before the municipality votes on a conditional use application.
Looking west from Drinker Turnpike in Clifton Twp., Interstate 380 can be seen in the far distance. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Meadow Brook runs through Clifton Twp. towards border with Covington Twp. Tuesday, April 7, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Sandy Beach Road winds through Clifton Twp looking east Tuesday, April 7, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Looking west from Drinker Turnpike in Clifton Twp., Interstate 380 can be seen in the far distance. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Proposed by 1778 Rich Pike LLC, 2003 S. Easton Road, Suite 304, Doylestown, Project Gold looks to build a data center campus along Interstate 380 in Clifton and Covington townships across roughly 1,000 acres beginning north of Clifton Beach Road.
1778 Rich Pike initially proposed building nearly three dozen data centers, each up to three stories high and around 125,000 square feet per floor, but subsequent plans attached to a now-vacated settlement agreement indicate there would only be five data centers in Clifton, though each 65-foot-tall building would have a much larger footprint, ranging from 160,000 square feet to nearly 685,000 square feet. The plans did not include Covington Twp.’s portion of the project.
The project is tied up in court after Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas Judge Mark Powell vacated on Jan. 30 his approval of a settlement agreement involving Clifton Twp., 1778 Rich Pike and JCO LLC — a property owner at 207 Drinker Turnpike, Covington Twp., who will sell 500-plus acres for the campus. A May 2024 sales agreement attached as an exhibit in a court filing lists JCO LLC and Joseph C. Occhipinti as the sellers, with both JCO and Occhipinti using the same Drinker Turnpike address. The agreement is for the sale of nearly 543 acres in Clifton and Covington townships.
Powell signed a Jan. 30 order vacating his original approval of the settlement Jan. 5. The settlement would have ended multiple legal challenges filed by the developer over Clifton Twp.’s zoning for data centers, and in return, the township would permit 1778 Rich Pike to use the property for data centers and battery storage without the need for conditional use approval, though the settlement included numerous stipulations and conditions required for the township to approve its land development plan.
The Clifton Twp. Zoning Hearing Board petitioned the court to vacate the order. The board, which had denied the developer’s contention that Clifton Twp.’s zoning excluded data centers, asked the court to throw out the settlement because it was not given a say in the agreement, despite opposing it.
Covington Twp. also petitioned the court to intervene in the settlement, with a Jan. 27 filing from the township arguing that by barring the developer from building infrastructure such as power stations, water wells and sewage treatment in Clifton Twp., it effectively shifts them to Covington’s half of the roughly 1,000-acre site.
Powell’s vacated order noted that Clifton’s zoning hearing board was not included in the settlement; Powell also ruled that 1778 Rich Pike prematurely challenged the zoning hearing board’s ruling by filing before the board issued its written decision.
The Clifton Twp. Zoning Hearing Board unanimously voted on Nov. 19 to deny 1778 Rich Pike’s April 17 substantive validity challenge that alleged Clifton Twp.’s zoning ordinance unlawfully excluded data centers, private power generation facilities and related uses. 1778 Rich Pike appealed the ruling Dec. 1, prior to the board issuing a written decision Dec. 30.
Powell allowed the developer to move forward with a supplemental land use appeal that asked the court to reverse the zoning hearing board’s decision and to grant site-specific relief to permit data center uses on the property. The court case is ongoing.