A New York City developer looking to construct two data centers in Archbald nearly tripled its footprint Wednesday, buying three lots in the Valley View Business Park for almost $16.2 million.
DC VV LLC, which shares an address with PNK Group, purchased 80.81 acres from the Scranton Lackawanna Industrial Building Company, or SLIBCO, on the southeast side of Archbald Heights Road in the business park, according to a property transaction recorded Wednesday with the Lackawanna County Recorder of Deeds.
SLIBCO is the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce’s industrial development arm. DC VV, a Delaware limited liability company, listed its address in the deed as 17 State St., 39th floor, New York City; PNK Group’s website provides the same address for its headquarters.
The three lots are immediately west of a 44.47-acre parcel that PNK acquired 2½ years ago from SLIBCO for about $3.32 million, operating as PNK P1 LLC, according to a Feb. 8, 2024, property transaction.
With the new land, PNK Group now has just over 125 contiguous acres in the Archbald portion of the Valley View Business Park. In the Jessup section of the business park, PNK Group already constructed a 255,776-square-foot warehouse on Valley View Drive, and a 162,907-square-foot warehouse on Alberigi Drive. PNK also purchased land in Moosic in July for a 460,000-square-foot warehouse on Davis Street.
In an interview last month, PNK Group Chief Development Officer Anton Voronkin said that although their plans are in the early stages, they anticipated building two data centers with a combined capacity of 300 megawatts, plus a substation.
PNK Group would develop the data centers as turnkey infrastructure, which means they would build everything except the actual computer equipment, according to Voronkin.
Archbald conditionally allows data centers in the business park after four former council members voted in November to adopt a zoning ordinance regulating the industry. The legislation, which a group of residents is currently challenging in court, created four data center overlays throughout the town, including one encompassing the business park.
It was unclear Thursday how PNK Group’s additional land acquisitions would affect their plans.
Archbald had not received any new applications for data centers as of 4:30 p.m. Thursday, borough Manager Dan Markey said in a text.
PNK Group began operations in Russia around 2003, according to archives of a former PNK Group website that used a Russian domain. The company has operated in the United States market since 2017, according to its current website, which touts more than 20 years of experience with international clients across Central and Eastern Europe, as well as Central Asia.
The brand withdrew from Russia in 2024, Voronkin said.
“You can’t really do business in (the) United States if there are any ties with Russia, so that’s why we decided to — the company decided to just withdraw the brand and start developing the business in (the) United States,” he said last month. “And we’re doing it quite successfully.”
When PNK Group submits its conditional use application, it will trigger a lengthy public hearing process where borough council will ultimately consider approving the project.