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Data Center Watch Report · ZIP 63136

Ferguson / North St. Louis County

St. Louis County

ProposedZIP 90.4% Blackpop 41,314

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

Researched: 2026-08-02 · Lead source: Brockovich AI Data Center community map (3 resident reports, 2026-04-29→2026-06-27) · ZIP demographics: 90.4% Black, pop 41,314 (Census ACS 2023) · County: St. Louis County (~24% Black countywide) Status: Proposed — tax-incentive package REJECTED by Ferguson City Council 3–3 (with one abstention) on May 5, 2026. Project could return.

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

0. Snapshot

Residents on the Brockovich map named the developer "Blackstone/Copeland." Here is what that points to: the proposed data center would sit on the 217-acre former Emerson Electric world headquarters on West Florissant Avenue in north St. Louis County (ZIP 63136). Emerson vacated the campus (occupied since the 1940s) for a Clayton high-rise and transferred the land to Copeland, the HVAC/refrigeration business Emerson spun off in 2023. Blackstone Inc. completed acquisition of a majority stake in Copeland (a ~$14 billion deal) — so the land is Copeland-owned, Blackstone-controlled. That is the "Blackstone/Copeland" the residents named.

The would-be data-center developer is a different party: SSL Investments, led by St. Louis mass-tort attorney Jim Onder (rendered "Jim Zonder" in one outlet). This is not a QTS site (Blackstone owns QTS, but QTS is not named in any Ferguson filing found). SSL proposed a $1.8B "multiuse innovation hub" anchored by a data center; the City Council rejected the incentive package on May 5, 2026.

1. The Facility & Where It Sits

  • Site: Former Emerson Electric campus, ~217 acres, ~11 buildings, ~1 million sq ft, at West Florissant Avenue near Lucas & Hunt Road. Features a helipad, tennis courts, softball fields; adjacent to Norfolk Southern rail. Currently ~20% occupied by ~300 Copeland employees. (stltoday, audacy/KMOX)
  • Developer: SSL Investments (attorney Jim Onder). Proposal: convert campus into a "multiuse innovation hub" incorporating a renovated/new data center. (STLPR)
  • Landowner: Copeland (majority owner Blackstone Inc.). Copeland was weighing leaving St. Louis for Ohio; the project was pitched partly as retaining ~300 Copeland jobs. (KSDK, firstalert4)
  • Investment scenarios (per city documents): minimum ~$1B initial equipment / $2.6B total; maximum $7.5B initial / $19.5B total across 2029–2050. Headline figure used publicly: $1.8 billion. SSL committed $810M to acquire the site and build improvements. (STLPR)
  • Size in MW: Not stated in public filings found as of 2026-08-02.
  • Status: Proposed; incentives rejected May 5, 2026 (3–3, one abstention). No approved building permit found.

2. Public Hearings & Notices

  • Apr 23–24, 2026: Council scheduled to vote on tax breaks; vote postponed amid opposition. (firstalert4, STLPR 2026-04-24)
  • Late April 2026: Council advanced the measure out of committee; special meeting set. (stltoday)
  • May 5, 2026 (Mon): Council voted 3–3 with one abstention on the amended proposal — motion failed, blocking up to $22 billion in industrial revenue bonds and a 15-year real-property tax abatement. Newly elected Mayor Adrian Shropshire voted no, producing the tie; Councilman David Williams voted yes citing budget concerns. (STLPR 2026-05-05, FOX2, firstalert4)
  • City Council meetings: 7:00 p.m., 2nd and 4th Tuesdays (schedule varies April/July/August). Agendas: fergusoncity.com AgendaCenter.
  • Because the resident reports run through June 27, 2026, watch for a revived/re-structured proposal; none confirmed in public sources as of 2026-08-02.

3. Power

  • Serving utility: Ameren Missouri.
  • Missouri PSC large-load tariff (approved Nov 24, 2025): applies to customers forecasting ≥75 MW monthly peak. Large loads must cover their full cost of electricity and infrastructure, own/pay for their own distribution substation and transmission, post collateral equal to two years of minimum projected bills, and pay an exit fee on early termination — designed so costs are not shifted to existing customers. (Missouri PSC pr-26-40, KSDK)
  • Ameren had signed ~2.2 GW of ~3.4 GW large-load agreements as of Feb 2026, and in June 2026 filed a rate case seeking $343M more revenue ($13/mo for the average residential customer) — the cost pressure residents cited. (Jefferson City News-Tribune, columbiamissourian)
  • On-site generation: none disclosed in Ferguson filings found.

4. Water & Drought

  • Water utility: Missouri American Water serves this area (not independently confirmed for this specific parcel — verify with the city). Residents raised water-consumption and cooling concerns at hearings. (STLPR 2026-05-05)
  • Drought: Check current St. Louis County status at droughtmonitor.unl.edu. Specific withdrawal permits: Not found as of 2026-08-02 (no permit was filed because the project was not approved).

5. Population & Who Lives Here

  • ZIP 63136 (Dellwood/Jennings/Ferguson/unincorporated north county): 90.4% Black, pop 41,314 (ACS 2023) — one of the largest majority-Black ZIP populations in Missouri.
  • City of Ferguson: ~67–68% Black; 23.2% poverty, child poverty ~40.6%; Black poverty ~29.6% vs white ~11.6%. Ferguson went from ~75% white in 1990 to two-thirds Black by 2010. (worldpopulationreview, missouri-demographics, TIME)
  • This is nationally significant ground: the 2014 killing of Michael Brown and the Ferguson uprising. A hyperscale data center proposed for a 90%+ Black ZIP with 40% child poverty is a textbook environmental-justice siting question.

6. Money — Abatements, Incentives, Jobs

  • Requested (rejected): up to $22B in industrial revenue bonds; 15-year real-property tax abatement; personal-property tax abatement; developer would have paid the city ~$700,000–$822,463/yr (2024 baseline) to mitigate impacts. Total tax breaks valued around $1.5 billion over 15 years. (STLPR, FOX2)
  • Jobs required for abatement: minimum 250 jobs (real property) and 100 new jobs (personal property). Plus retention of ~300 Copeland jobs. (STLPR 2026-04-24)
  • School-district hit (why opposition organized): Ferguson-Florissant School District estimated to lose ~$71 million in real-estate revenue over the 15-year life; Jennings School District ~$6.2M in first six years; City of Ferguson ~$5.2M early-phase. (multiple)

7. Community Reaction & News Coverage

  • Local outlets: St. Louis Public Radio (STLPR), St. Louis American (the region's Black newspaper — "Public opposition helps sink Ferguson data center plan"), KSDK, FOX2/fox2now, First Alert 4 (KMOV), St. Louis Post-Dispatch (stltoday), KMOX.
  • Organized opposition: St. Louis County NAACP (flagged the rushed vote), Ferguson Human Rights Commission (opposed), Ferguson-Florissant School District (opposed).
  • Residents quoted at hearings (public record): Kourtney Huddleston (33-year resident), Mary Baker, Henry Iwenofu, Melanie Marie, Becky and Alan Mueller, Lady J. Huston. Concerns: rising utility costs, grid strain, cooling-system noise, traffic, water use, local-labor guarantees, school funding, health, and deal transparency. (STLPR, STL American)

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 SSL/Onder brings the project back, what is the guaranteed megawatt draw, and has Ameren filed a large-load (≥75 MW) agreement under the PSC tariff?
  2. Who bears the substation/transmission cost — the developer (as the tariff requires) or ratepayers?
  3. What are the enforceable local-hire and permanent-job numbers, not construction jobs?
  4. How much water, from which system, and with what discharge permit?
  5. What is the actual dollar hit to Ferguson-Florissant schools, and is there a payment-in-lieu to backfill it?
  6. Will Copeland stay regardless of the data center, or is retention contingent on the abatement?

9. If You're Thinking About Moving Here

As of August 2026 the incentive deal is dead and no data center is under construction — the immediate risk is on hold, not resolved. If a revised proposal returns, expect the pressures residents named: higher Ameren bills region-wide (a rate case is pending), cooling noise and traffic near West Florissant, and a large industrial neighbor abutting homes, schools and churches in an already-disinvested, 90%-Black ZIP. On the other side, the site is currently a mostly vacant campus, and the school-funding fight shows an engaged, organized community. Anyone considering the area should track the Ferguson council agenda and the Ameren rate case before assuming the question is 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.