Markley, Lowell battle over records requests
Markley Lowell LLC is challenging the City of Lowell’s response to a public records request concerning the company’s data center operations and development plans. City officials, including Mayor Erik Gitschier and several councilors, have criticized the facility, while the city is also preparing a community meeting about data center zoning.
Markley Lowell LLC, which operates a 352,000-square-foot colocation data center in Lowell’s Sacred Heart neighborhood, has disputed the city’s response to a public records request. The company’s attorney, Samuel Rudman of Choate, said the city’s production was materially incomplete and asked it to provide additional records. City Solicitor Corey Williams said Lowell had already responded and directed the company to pursue an appeal with the Massachusetts Supervisor of Records if it remained dissatisfied.
Mayor Erik Gitschier and City Councilors Sean McDonough and Kim Scott have been vocal critics of Markley’s existing facility and additional properties under development. The company has invested at least $650 million in Lowell and operates a facility with an approximately 40-megawatt power profile. Lowell’s Department of Planning and Development is scheduled to hold a community engagement event on data center zoning, amid broader concerns about the facilities’ energy and environmental impacts.