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Data Center Watch Report · ZIP 63135

Ferguson

St. Louis County

ProposedZIP 66.2% Blackpop 19,446

Proposed — tax-incentive package REJECTED by Ferguson City Council 3–3 (one abstention) on May 5, 2026. Project could return.

Researched: 2026-08-02 · Lead source: Brockovich AI Data Center community map (1 resident report, 2026-04-30) · ZIP demographics: 66.2% Black, pop 19,446 (Census ACS 2023) · County: St. Louis County (~24% Black countywide) Status: Proposed — tax-incentive package REJECTED by Ferguson City Council 3–3 (one abstention) on May 5, 2026. Project could return.

This report is research, not legal, financial, real-estate, or investment advice.

0. Snapshot

ZIP 63135 is Ferguson proper — the resident report (2026-04-30) landed the day before the postponed council vote. The data center in question is the same $1.8B proposal on the 217-acre former Emerson Electric campus documented in the companion report for ZIP 63136 (the campus fronts West Florissant Avenue on the 63135/63136 line). 63135 is where City Hall (110 Church St.) and the City Council that decides this are located, and where much of the affected residential neighborhood, downtown Ferguson, and the Ferguson-Florissant schools sit.

The land is owned by Copeland (the HVAC/refrigeration firm Emerson spun off in 2023), whose majority owner is Blackstone Inc. — the "Blackstone/Copeland" residents named. The data-center developer is SSL Investments, led by attorney Jim Onder (spelled "Zonder" in one outlet). This is not a QTS project. On May 5, 2026 the council rejected the incentive package 3–3, with newly elected Mayor Adrian Shropshire casting the tie-breaking no.

1. The Facility & Where It Sits

  • Site: ~217-acre former Emerson Electric HQ, ~11 buildings / ~1 million sq ft, West Florissant Ave near Lucas & Hunt Rd, adjacent Norfolk Southern rail. ~20% occupied today by ~300 Copeland staff. The parcel addresses to 63136 but abuts 63135's residential core.
  • Developer: SSL Investments (Jim Onder) — proposed a "multiuse innovation hub" anchored by a data center.
  • Landowner: Copeland (majority owner Blackstone Inc., ~$14B deal).
  • Headline investment: $1.8 billion (city documents model $2.6B–$19.5B total across 2029–2050). SSL committed $810M to acquire and improve the site.
  • Size (MW): Not disclosed in public filings as of 2026-08-02.
  • Status: Proposed; incentives rejected May 5, 2026. No approved permit found.

2. Public Hearings & Notices

  • Apr 23–24, 2026: Vote postponed amid opposition.
  • May 5, 2026: Council 3–3, one abstention — motion failed; blocked up to $22B in industrial revenue bonds and a 15-year real-property tax abatement. Mayor Shropshire voted no; Ward 1's David Williams voted yes.
  • City Council: 7 p.m., 2nd & 4th Tuesdays (varies April/July/August), 110 Church St. Agendas: fergusoncity.com AgendaCenter.
  • Watch for a re-structured proposal; none confirmed publicly as of 2026-08-02.

3. Power

  • Utility: Ameren Missouri.
  • Missouri PSC large-load tariff (approved Nov 24, 2025): loads ≥75 MW must cover their full power + infrastructure cost, own/pay for their own substation and transmission, post two years' collateral, and pay an exit fee — so existing customers aren't charged for data-center buildout. (Missouri PSC pr-26-40)
  • Ameren filed a June 2026 rate case seeking $343M ($13/mo more for the average home) — the bill pressure residents flagged.

4. Water & Drought

  • Water: Missouri American Water serves this area (confirm the specific parcel with the city). Cooling-water use was raised at hearings.
  • Drought: current St. Louis County status at droughtmonitor.unl.edu.
  • Withdrawal permit: Not found as of 2026-08-02 (project not approved, so no permit filed).

5. Population & Who Lives Here

  • ZIP 63135: 66.2% Black, pop 19,446 (ACS 2023); ~29% white; ~20% of families in poverty; median household income ~$52,328; median age ~36. (missouri-demographics, city-data)
  • City of Ferguson overall: 23.2% poverty, child poverty ~40.6%; Black poverty ~29.6% vs white ~11.6%. Ferguson flipped from ~75% white in 1990 to two-thirds Black by 2010.
  • This is Ferguson — the ground of the 2014 Michael Brown uprising. A hyperscale data center proposed in and next to a two-thirds-Black city with heavy child poverty is a direct environmental-justice question.

6. Money — Abatements, Incentives, Jobs

  • Rejected package: up to $22B in industrial revenue bonds; 15-year real-property tax abatement (plus personal-property abatement); developer would pay the city ~$700K–$822K/yr; total breaks ~$1.5B over 15 years.
  • Jobs conditions: min 250 jobs (real property), 100 new jobs (personal property); plus retaining ~300 Copeland jobs otherwise possibly bound for Ohio.
  • School hit: Ferguson-Florissant District projected to lose ~$71M over 15 years; Jennings ~$6.2M (6 yrs); City of Ferguson ~$5.2M early-phase — the core of the opposition.

7. Community Reaction & News Coverage

  • Local outlets: STLPR, St. Louis American (Black newspaper), KSDK, FOX2, First Alert 4 (KMOV), St. Louis Post-Dispatch, KMOX.
  • Organized opposition: St. Louis County NAACP, Ferguson Human Rights Commission, Ferguson-Florissant School District — all opposed or objected to the rushed process.
  • Residents on record at hearings: Kourtney Huddleston, Mary Baker, Melanie Marie, Becky & Alan Mueller, Lady J. Huston, Henry Iwenofu — citing utility costs, grid strain, noise, traffic, water, local-hire, school funding, and transparency.

8. Find Out For Yourself

City of Ferguson — City Hall, 110 Church St., Ferguson, MO 63135 · main 314-521-7721

Questions worth asking:

  1. If the project returns, what megawatt load, and has Ameren filed a ≥75 MW large-load agreement under the PSC tariff?
  2. Who pays for the substation and transmission — developer (as required) or ratepayers?
  3. What enforceable permanent-job and local-hire numbers are guaranteed (not construction jobs)?
  4. How much cooling water, from which utility, discharged where?
  5. What is the real dollar loss to Ferguson-Florissant schools, and is it backfilled?
  6. Will Copeland stay in the region regardless of whether the data center is approved?

9. If You're Thinking About Moving Here

As of August 2026 the deal is dead and nothing is under construction — the risk is paused, not closed. A revised proposal could revive the concerns residents named: higher Ameren bills (a rate case is pending), cooling noise, traffic, and a large industrial neighbor at West Florissant abutting Ferguson-proper homes, schools, and churches in a two-thirds-Black ZIP. The upside: an organized community that just defeated a $1.5B abatement over school-funding loss, and a currently mostly-vacant campus rather than an active facility. Track the Ferguson council agenda and the Ameren rate case before treating the matter as settled.

10. Sources

Lead source: resident reports on the Brockovich AI Data Center community map, then independently verified against public records. Research, not legal, financial, real-estate, or investment advice. Some resident-reported pins remain uncorroborated and are labeled as such above.