A sprawling data center campus could be headed to Sutton, where The Kraft Group and Unified Global Packaging Group are proposing up to 10 buildings of 250,000 square feet each on part of Unified's Unified Parkway property. The plan, still in its earliest stages, is set to come before the Sutton Select Board on Tuesday, Nov. 10, according to a memo from Town Manager Austin Cyganiewicz.
The proposal calls for the first two buildings to open in 2029, with two more added each year until the campus is complete in 2033, according to the Worcester Telegram. Unified Global Packaging Group, which is part of The Kraft Group, and The Kraft Group itself are both behind the plan. No application has actually been filed yet, and the Telegram reports that important details on power, water, equipment and site impacts are still to come.
The Scale of the Investment
The developer's own estimates, included in the town manager's memo, put the completed campus's power draw at roughly 900 megawatts and its private investment at more than $16 billion — a figure the Telegram notes is several times the $2.8 billion in assessed value of all property in Sutton today. MassLive reports that the developer is in discussions with ISO New England, the regional grid operator, to secure the necessary power, and is exploring the use of treated sewage water for cooling, though those details are still being ironed out, per the same account.
Cyganiewicz's memo offers conservative projections for what the project could mean for town coffers. The first phase of the plan is estimated to generate $10.4 million a year in tax revenue starting in fiscal year 2031, with that figure climbing to about $27.8 million annually once all 10 centers are completed and assessed in fiscal year 2035, the Telegram reported. The Select Board could also use annual tax classification to shift more of the tax burden toward commercial and industrial property, which officials say could further lower residential tax bills over time.
Town Officials Urge a Careful Look
A letter dated Nov. 6 and cosigned by more than a dozen town department heads described the proposal as a potential source of significant new tax revenue that warrants careful, objective consideration, per the Telegram's reporting. The department heads encouraged the Select Board to pursue formal review and public input on the proposal and any zoning amendments it might require. The town of Sutton did not immediately respond to a request for comment, according to the newspaper.
A Statewide Pattern of Pushback
Sutton's proposal lands amid growing friction over data centers across Massachusetts. MassLive reports that more than 30 Massachusetts communities have either implemented or are discussing moratoriums or outright bans on the facilities, and the Telegram notes that several communities, including Leominster, have already imposed such moratoriums. In nearby Southbridge, the Town Council unanimously approved a one-year data center moratorium on Nov. 2, set to take effect Nov. 17 and pausing permitting, construction, expansion, conversion, establishment or operation of the facilities, according to MassLive. That same council had approved a research partnership with Worcester Polytechnic Institute on Oct. 19 to help inform future Planning Board decisions on the issue.
The debate over costs and benefits isn't limited to Central Massachusetts. In Westfield, a proposed campus of 10 to 14 buildings on roughly 120 acres is pegged at $2.5 billion to $4 billion in investment and could support 1,800 to 2,000 construction jobs over eight to 10 years, along with 400 permanent jobs paying average salaries above $100,000, according to CommonWealth Beacon. That outlet also reports Massachusetts is currently home to 44 data centers, citing The Boston Globe, and notes Westfield officials approved their project back in 2021 — long before the current wave of statewide scrutiny took hold.
At the state level, an executive order addressing data center development, Executive Order No. 658, states that the Commonwealth has a responsibility to ensure residents, businesses and communities do not bear the costs or burdens of data center development and its incremental energy and water needs, and instead share in benefits such as economic opportunity, job creation, strengthened infrastructure and additional local tax revenues, according to the order's text published by the Massachusetts governor's office. For now, Sutton's plan remains tentative, with the Select Board's Tuesday discussion marking only the first formal step in what promises to be a long process of review.
