The meeting centers on a permit application made by ‘Project Gravity’ developers, who want seven-building campus just off Business Route 6 in Archbald

ARCHBALD, Pa. — The Department of Environmental Protection will hold a public meeting tonight to discuss a permit application filed by one of the developers eyeing up a Lackawanna County community for data center development.

The informational hearing centers on a water obstruction and encroachment joint permit application filed by the development for the “Project Gravity” data center in Archbald, the DEP said. The permit the developer is seeking would allow for filling in wetlands and waterways and allows for earth moving.

During the meeting starting at 5 p.m. at Valley View High School, DEP will discuss its role as a regulatory agency and it and the developer will offer presentations and take questions from the audience, who must submit their inquiries in advance. TP do so, contact Patti Monahan at pmonahan@pa.gov or 570-826-2511.

“Project Gravity” is one of several data center projects proposed in Archbald, a borough in the county’s Midvalley, which has emerged over the last year as a hotbed of potential development — to the chagrin of many in those towns. Archbald’s elected officials were among the collection of local leaders who last month toured Loudoun County, Virginia, a place colloquially known as “Data Center Alley.” 

The “Project Gravity” developers — New York City-based Archbald 25 Developer LLC — propose a seven-building data center campus on 181-acres of former mine land east of Business Route 6, south of Gibson Street and west of Eynon Jermyn Road. 

Abie Kassin is listed in the paperwork as the managing partner of Archbald 25 Developer and his email address uses the domain for Western Hospitality Partners, a development group tied to other data center projects in the country.

Each building, according to the application, will be two-stories with a 138,000 square foot footprint. The proposal also includes loading docks, parking, a water treatment facility, a substation, a switching station, additional parking areas, sidewalks, curb ramps, site fencing, utilities, landscaping, stormwater management and two access roads.

The proposed development also would come right up to the edge of a mobile home community. Some residences in the community, Valley View Estates, would be a few hundred yards away from the campus buildings, according to a site map provided by the DEP.

The residents Valley View Estates have previously told Newswatch 16 that they worry about what the proposed development would mean for their lives in the park.

In August, they received letters that the park’s owner reached a binding agreement for sale with an LLC tied to the proposed data center. As of Tuesday, the park’s ownership remains in the hands of an LLC registered to the address of a Lancaster County beer distributor, according to county property records.