Cleveland’s Largest and Most Expensive Data Center May Rise Near Slavic Village

Lakeland Equity Group, led by Managing Director Sam Khouri, is proposing a three-building, 150-megawatt hyperscale data center campus in Cleveland, Ohio. The $1.6-billion project, slated for a 35-acre site between Slavic Village and the industrial valley currently owned by Morabito Enterprises, aims to be the city’s first state-of-the-art hyperscale facility, designed for high-density AI and cloud computing workloads. Khouri's permit application to the Cleveland Building Department highlights the project's secure digital infrastructure with advanced power, cooling, and fiber connectivity, promising significant local investment and long-term technical jobs. The facility's 150 MW power demand would be equivalent to a small city, raising questions about power and water resources, though developers cite nearby industrial-scale electrical power and access to water for cooling from watersheds or a regional sewer district tunnel. The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency has already issued a 'no further action' finding for prior contamination on the site. The proposed data center faces a significant challenge from a statewide 'Ohio Prohibition of Data Center Construction Amendment' that may appear on the November ballot. This initiated constitutional amendment seeks to ban data centers with an aggregate power demand exceeding 25 megawatts, which would directly impact Lakeland Equity Group's 150 MW project. While similar facilities in other states, like Maryland, have faced public opposition, the Ohio amendment is currently in the signature-gathering phase, with time running out for it to qualify for the ballot.