One Million-Square-Foot Data Center Proposal in Monroe Twp Still Active; Application Completeness Review May 12

A highly publicized one million-square-foot data center proposal by Hexa Builders LLC in Monroe Township, New Jersey, remains active despite the township's recent ordinance banning new data centers. The Monroe Township Planning Board is scheduled to conduct a "Completeness Review" of Hexa Builders' application on May 12th, which is not a final approval hearing but a step towards one. Monroe Township Mayor Greg Wolfe previously stated that the township had "banned any data center use from ever coming to Monroe Township." However, the Hexa Builders project is progressing because its application may have been submitted before the ban was enacted, potentially allowing it to be reviewed under older zoning regulations that permitted data centers. The original proposal in late 2025 focused on warehouses, but earlier in 2025, Monroe Township amended redevelopment regulations for the property to allow data centers, a change residents were initially unaware of. Community opposition played a significant role, with residents organizing and packing public meetings to voice their concerns after local reporting highlighted the possibility of data center development. Their efforts led to the township officially passing the ordinance to ban new data centers. The key legal question now revolves around whether the addition of the data center component to the revised plans constitutes a substantially new application, subject to the current ban, or if the initial warehouse application's submission date protects the project under previous rules. Township professionals and potentially the courts are expected to make this determination.