Van Wert is officially in the big leagues. QTS Data Centers plans to drop roughly $10 billion into a 500-megawatt data center campus on about 902 acres at the city’s mega site, company and city officials announced Friday. The project, which could ultimately include up to seven massive buildings, is expected to generate more than 1,500 construction jobs and around 200 permanent positions. A ceremonial groundbreaking is penciled in for the fourth quarter of 2026, with the first building targeted to go live in early 2029 and full campus buildout projected around 2032.
The deal was laid out in a QTS press release that casts the development as a long-term partnership with Van Wert and says the campus will “bring approximately $10 billion in capital investment” along with a community betterment fund and other local commitments, according to Q.com.
Local coverage has started to fill in the fine print and timelines. QTS Senior Director of Communications Katie Erwin told The VW Independent that "project timelines are subject to a number of factors," but the current game plan is for the first building to become operational in the first quarter of 2029, with additional phases rolling out through about 2032.
Timeline and scale
The future campus footprint is big enough to make a cornfield blush. QTS is planning to use roughly 902 acres of pre-annexed industrial land that has been zoned for industrial use since 2007 and marketed specifically to lure hyperscale operators, according to Van Wert Data Center. Plans call for up to seven data center buildings with an anticipated total capacity near 500 megawatts.
Power and water
On the utility front, QTS says it will pick up the entire tab for the grid and substation work needed to power the campus and will partner with American Electric Power on long-term reliability improvements, with no cost passed on to existing ratepayers, according to company statements to reporters. The operator also says the site will use a closed-loop cooling system that does not consume water for cooling once operations are underway. Project materials add that the build will still need periodic makeup water, roughly 660,000 gallons on a multi-year cycle, and that any discharge will require EPA-regulated pretreatment, according to the company release on Q.com.
Jobs and community promises
City and company officials say the complex could generate about $200 million in tax revenue over 20 years, more than 1,500 construction jobs, and roughly 200 permanent QTS positions. QTS has also pledged a community betterment fund to steer direct local investments. Early on, that includes a $100,000 partnership with the Vantage Career Center, and the company plans a public information session on June 11 at Vantage so residents can quiz executives about the project details, according to project materials on Van Wert Data Center.
What’s next
Before any golden shovels hit the dirt, the project still has to clear permitting, environmental reviews, and utility interconnection work. Those steps will ultimately lock in the schedule and engineering details. State utility rules already shape how big data center customers are billed and hooked into the grid, and AEP Ohio’s data center tariff, adopted by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, is the regulatory backdrop for bringing in such a large new power load. That framework helps explain why QTS is agreeing to fund its own grid upgrades, according to AEP Ohio.
QTS leaders and Van Wert officials say they will keep up community outreach as design and permitting move forward. Residents who want to press for specifics on jobs, water use, and neighborhood impacts can bring their questions to the June 11 information session. Local reporting and company releases outline the broad strokes for now, and officials say they will roll out more granular details at that meeting, according to reporting in The Blade.
