Coventry Mall Data Center Plan Pulled After Township Rejects Zoning Workaround
PGOB Coventry Holdings LLC and PennMark Management Company withdrew an application to convert nearly 86,000 square feet at the former Coventry Mall in North Coventry Township into a data center after the township zoning officer rejected their argument that the use was allowed under existing commercial zoning. The withdrawal follows another failed data center proposal and comes as the township considers new data center regulations, including cooling, setback and groundwater-monitoring requirements.
PGOB Coventry Holdings LLC and PennMark Management Company withdrew their application for a data center at the former Coventry Mall, now the Shoppes at Coventry, after North Coventry Township Zoning Officer Cheryl Franckowiak rejected their claim that the project qualified as a public service facility under the township's C-1 commercial zoning rules. The withdrawal canceled a scheduled Zoning Hearing Board meeting and ended the proposal for nearly 86,000 square feet at 351 W. Schuylkill Road.
The decision is the second data center proposal to fail in North Coventry in 2026. Supervisors previously rejected an informal Envision Land Use proposal for a 120,000-square-foot facility near a PECO substation. The township is drafting an ordinance that would treat data centers as a conditional use and impose requirements for closed-loop cooling, 1,500-foot setbacks, groundwater monitoring and backup generators, while a proposed 180-day moratorium was not enacted. The draft rules would not apply to the commercially zoned mall property.