Data center proposal withdrawn

The developer who proposed a data center near I-11 and US-95 has withdrawn its application to the Boulder City Land Management Process.

According to a city news release Tuesday, on June 26 the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) approved Townsite Solar 2 LLC’s application to amend its right-of-way grant for a data center on a federally-owned parcel, adjacent to the city parcel it had proposed to build upon.

“Since February, the city has followed the city’s LMP to facilitate an open and transparent discussion with residents about the possibility of leasing city land for a data center” City Manager Ned Thomas said in the release.

At present, TS2 holds an option to lease approximately 88.5 acres of city-owned land for solar power generation and battery energy storage, and this option will expire on Dec. 31, 2026. Since September 2023, TS2 has also held a Right-of-Way Grant issued by the Bureau of Land Management for solar power generation and battery energy storage on an adjacent site.

In late 2025, TS2 submitted a LMP application to the city to develop a data center on the optioned parcel instead of solar plus battery storage. This would have required a new lease agreement, and the city required the developer to start at “square one” of the Land Management Process.

This ensured that the community had an opportunity to comment on the proposed new data center use, the city stated in the release. Boulder City’s unique LMP is the first step toward determining the viability of the lease of city-owned property.

In late 2025, Townsite Solar also applied to the BLM to amend its ROW Grant for a data center. On June 26 the BLM granted the amended ROW Grant, and there is a 30-day appeal period. Council will decide Tuesday, July 14, whether or not to appeal.

In May, the Boulder City Planning Commission voted 6-1 to recommend that the city council not approve adding data centers to the LMP List, citing in part the need for more regulatory oversight regarding this use.

Despite TS2’s withdrawal of its LMP application, the city council will still receive the Planning Commission’s recommendation and discuss the proposal at its meeting on Tuesday.

The agenda item, posted the afternoon of July 7 shows, “Consideration of the proposal to add approximately 88.5 acres located west of U.S. Highway 95 and south of I-11 to the 2026 LMP list for data center uses. (Withdrawn by applicant).”

“The council discussion on July 14 will conclude the current process,” Thomas said.

The release also stated that initial estimates for the annual lease value for a data center were approximately $1.47 million, while a competitive bid process would have likely yielded even more. Including property taxes, permit fees, and administrative charges it could have totaled roughly $2.3 million a year.

“These revenues would have contributed to the growing costs for vital community services such as police, fire and emergency response, utility infrastructure, water conservation, and more,” it states.