A 350 MW AI Data Center Is Being Built in Vineland, NJ — and Faces an August 5 Planning Board Vote

DataOne Vineland, LLC is building a hyperscale AI data center in Vineland, New Jersey, and returns to the city’s Planning Board on August 5, 2026 for a hearing on an amended preliminary and final major site plan covering two phases. Phase 1 is already under construction; Phase 2 adds a large building expansion plus on-site power generation, liquefied natural gas storage, and cooling infrastructure. The project is a build-to-suit for AI cloud provider Nebius, and it has drawn organized opposition from residents, farmers, and environmental groups. For site selectors and developers, it shows how a large on-site-powered data center is being permitted in South Jersey, and the obstacles it faces.

The Project, in Detail

The DataOne Vineland campus sits in Cumberland County, with the Planning Board hearing set for City Hall, 640 E. Wood Street. Per the August 5 Special Meeting Planning Board agenda, the amended site plan is structured in two phases (Confirmed — public record):

• Phase 1: a 129,622 sq ft AI Data Center building, with associated site improvements — currently under construction.
• Phase 2: a 587,980 sq ft two-story expansion (293,990 sq ft per floor) attached to the Phase 1 building, also described as under construction.
• On-site power: four ground-mounted Bloom power areas (52,200 sq ft each); three two-story platform Bloom power areas (104,420, 104,702, and 110,734 sq ft); and two three-story Bloom power areas (194,061 sq ft each).
• Support facilities: a 92,466 sq ft chiller building; an 8,660 sq ft LNG tank and related infrastructure; an LNG facility and filling station; a 6,750 sq ft water treatment plant with three treated-water tanks; and 161,896 sq ft of “Megabay” structures across two areas, plus parking and landscaping.

Combined, the two data-center buildings total roughly 717,600 sq ft — a footprint the developer has said was reduced from an originally reported ~2.4 million sq ft (As reported). The facility is designed for a maximum capacity of 350 MW, with all 14 data halls targeted for delivery by the end of December 2026 (Confirmed — developer materials).

Who’s Behind It, and How It’s Powered

DataOne owns and operates the campus; Nebius Group is the tenant, running the server racks and GPU clusters as a build-to-suit arrangement (Confirmed — developer materials). Reporting has tied the Vineland facility to a broader Microsoft compute agreement involving Nebius (As reported).

The defining feature for anyone evaluating the site is that most of the power is generated behind the meter. The developer describes on-site Bloom Energy fuel cells as the primary source: the data halls and mechanical loads are fed from the fuel cells, with the grid used only as backup for critical racks. Roughly 49 MW comes permanently from the grid via Atlantic City Electric, with about 5 MW currently supplied by Vineland (Confirmed — developer materials). The August 5 agenda lists the fuel-cell “Bloom power areas” alongside an on-site LNG tank, LNG facility, and filling station (Confirmed — public record). Separately, reporting has described the on-site generation as approximately 85% from natural gas with the remainder from utilities, using dozens of high-efficiency gas engines and a proposed 1.5-million-gallon LNG storage tank (As reported). The developer says the design will have no impact on area ratepayers and prioritizes residents’ gas usage over the pipeline if needed (Developer statement).

Why It Matters for Site Selectors and Developers

For firms weighing a large-load site in the Mid-Atlantic, several features stand out:

• Behind-the-meter power at scale. Generating most of 350 MW on-site with fuel cells and LNG reduces reliance on transmission upgrades and interconnection queues that stall projects elsewhere in PJM territory.
• A named anchor tenant. A build-to-suit with Nebius, tied in reporting to a large hyperscaler agreement, gives the project committed demand rather than speculative capacity.
• Municipal support and a PILOT. The Vineland mayor and City Council president backed the project (As reported), which carries a five-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) abatement that applies to the improvement tax only — escalating from 0% in Year 1 to 20/40/60/80% and full taxation from Year 6 — with full land tax paid throughout (Confirmed — developer materials).
• An economic-development case already made. The developer projects roughly 1,000 construction jobs and ~200 permanent on-site jobs, with over 500 workers reported on site during construction (Speculative — developer projection).

The Risks and Obstacles

• A sharp dispute over water. The developer describes a closed-loop cooling system using roughly “seven Olympic swimming pools” of water a year plus a one-time 1-million-gallon fill, with no water discharged (Developer statement). Opponents and reporting put annual use as high as 20 million gallons (As reported / opponents’ estimate). The site sits near the Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer in a wellhead-protection area at the edge of the Pinelands region, which raises the scrutiny on any large draw.
• Emissions and air quality. DataOne says the facility is classified as a minor emissions source, uses controls that cut emissions by about 95%, and targets net-zero; CEO Charles-Antoine Beyney has compared its output to “200 cows” (Developer statement). Residents and farmers counter that on-site gas generation threatens air quality, crops, and well water, and cite asthma and noise concerns (As reported).
• Organized, escalating opposition. The Sierra Club (New Jersey), Sustain South Jersey, the Pinelands Alliance, local farmers, and area residents have publicly opposed the project, and a rally of roughly 100 people — organized by congressional candidate Bayly Winder — called for a national data-center moratorium (As reported). Distrust over notice and process has been a recurring theme in local coverage.
• A project already in the ground. Phases described as “under construction” while the amended site plan is still before the Planning Board sharpens the political stakes of the August 5 hearing.

What to Watch

• The August 5, 2026 Special Planning Board meeting — the public hearing on the amended preliminary/final major site plan for both phases, after earlier special meetings were postponed as Phase 2 plans changed (Confirmed — agenda; postponements as reported).
• The LNG tank and facility approval — on-site liquefied natural gas storage is among the most scrutinized elements and a likely focus of public comment.
• Water findings — how the closed-loop claim and the aquifer/wellhead-protection questions are resolved on the record.
• State and regional review — any NJDEP permitting tied to emissions and the LNG infrastructure, and Pinelands-area jurisdictional questions.

The Obedio Angle

Projects like DataOne Vineland surface in municipal agendas well before they reach trade or mainstream coverage. The full Phase 2 build — square footage, the Bloom power areas, the LNG tank, the water treatment plant — is spelled out in a single Planning Board agenda item on the public record now. Firms that track that activity, agenda by agenda, can identify large-load sites and the local dynamics around them well ahead of wider circulation.