{"id":264741,"date":"2026-08-13T18:45:07","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T18:45:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/264741\/"},"modified":"2026-08-13T18:45:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T18:45:07","slug":"neighbors-push-back-on-allentown-data-center-plan-developer-to-refile-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/264741\/","title":{"rendered":"Neighbors push back on Allentown data center plan, developer to refile"},"content":{"rendered":"

ALLENTOWN, Pa. \u2013 A data center proposal will keep looming over Allentown\u2019s South Side for the next few months.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Quantm Group is leading the effort to convert an empty warehouse at 2401 W. Emaus Ave. into a data center spanning almost a quarter-million square feet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Allentown City Planning Commission held a rare evening meeting July 16 to review a proposal the developer submitted in May. But Quantm filed altered plans for the site last week that zoning and planning officials have not yet reviewed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The commission typically meets on a Tuesday afternoon. It convened Thursday night instead to give more residents a chance to participate, according to Chairman Christian Brown.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Allentown City Council members Jeremy Binder (pictured), Cynthia Mota and Ce-Ce Gerlach handed out water to residents Thursday, July 16, during a packed planning commission meeting. (Jason Addy\/Lehigh Valley Public Media) <\/p>\n

Cofounder Tony Maras opened his presentation by pledging to withdraw the newest plans and address outstanding concerns from residents and the city. Quantm aims to resubmit its proposal for review at the commission\u2019s Sept. 8 meeting, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not looking for a snap approval,\u201d Maras said after spending about 45 minutes detailing the proposed data center and its potential benefits.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘Edge’ data center<\/p>\n

Among those benefits, Maras said, are upgraded electrical infrastructure, high-paying jobs, and millions of dollars in new tax revenues for the city, county and school district.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe question isn’t whether (data centers) should be built; the question is, can you build them responsibly?\u201d Maras said. \u201cThat\u2019s my obligation.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Residents should push their elected officials to attract data center projects instead of trying to push them away, Maras said, questioning why it would be \u201cbetter to have that data center built in another community.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Emaus Avenue facility, if approved, would operate as an \u201cedge data center,\u201d which Maras described as \u201cat the edge of the cloud \u2026 where we are.”<\/p>\n

Edge data centers, not to be confused with Edged Data Centers (the developer behind the 1.5 million-square-foot Project Atlas in South Whitehall Township) have a smaller footprint, lower electric demand and fewer employees than hyperscale facilities, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

All but one of the warehouse\u2019s 46 truck bays would be removed, since the facility would not generate regular traffic beyond employees. That space would instead hold dozens of \u201cchillers\u201d to keep the facility cool, Maras said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Several residents noted Thursday night that his pitch sounded strikingly similar to one Edged Data Centers delivered last week<\/a> at the South Whitehall Township Planning Commission\u2019s meeting on Project Atlas. <\/p>\n

Like Edged US executives, Maras painted a picture of a more intense industrial facility that could occupy the site if the data center is not approved.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The commission in 2022 approved plans for a 224,000-square-foot warehouse on the 13.7-acre Emaus Avenue property.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The warehouse would generate about 400 daily trips, including significant truck traffic, Maras said, more than twice the roughly 132 daily trips the data center’s 66 employees would produce.<\/p>\n

And he estimated the warehouse’s annual tax revenue at about 10% of what the data center could generate.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘Not a great alternative’<\/p>\n

Planners raised concerns in their preliminary review about the data center’s relatively limited job opportunities for a large property on the South Side, an area the city has designated a “major employment hub.”<\/p>\n

The site could employ hundreds of people per shift, but the data center plans call for fewer than two dozen employees per shift.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Senior planner Melissa Velez said the city also has ongoing questions about the data center\u2019s compatibility with nearby neighbors, including Camelot for Children and the Wynnewood Greens housing complex.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Allentown residents, some holding signs, packed City Council chambers Thursday, July 16, as the planning commission heard about a data center proposed for 2401 W. Emaus Ave. (Jason Addy\/Lehigh Valley Public Media)<\/p>\n

About three dozen residents spoke about the data center\u2019s potential effects on nearby homes and families, its water and electricity use, and its impact on utility costs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Alicia Ruthroth told the planning commission she worries about \u201cconstant\u201d noise from data centers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe noise doesn\u2019t stop,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She also criticized Maras for comparing his proposal to a potential warehouse on the site.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really don\u2019t want warehouses, either,” she said, so a data center is \u201cnot a great alternative.”<\/p>\n

Marissa Burns urged the commission to hold the data center proposal to new regulations Allentown City Council adopted last month.\u00a0The ordinance sets specific standards for data centers<\/a>, including regulations on water and electricity use and requirements for extensive noise and environmental studies.<\/p>\n

That legislation won’t apply to the Emaus Avenue project.\u00a0Quantm Group submitted its application before council signaled its intent to consider data-center zoning, meaning the proposal will be reviewed under the rules in place at the time it was filed. <\/p>\n

Council is now looking to change the city\u2019s noise ordinance to address a data center\u2019s continuous use and output. That legislation, which would govern the Quantm project and all other properties in the city, is expected to regulate audible noises and low-frequency hums like those data centers produce.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ALLENTOWN, Pa. \u2013 A data center proposal will keep looming over Allentown\u2019s South Side for the next few…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":246094,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120],"class_list":["post-264741","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-allentown","tag-allentown","tag-allentown-headlines","tag-allentown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264741","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=264741"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264741\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246094"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=264741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=264741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}