During a news conference Tuesday July 22, 2025, it was announced that the Lancaster East data center will be developed by Chirisa Technology Parks and Machine Investment Group at the site of the former LSC Communications, 216 Greenfield Road in Lancaster city. Part of the existing structure, right, will be demolished as part of the project.
Blaine Shahan | LNP | LancasterOnline
Blaine Shahan | LNP | LancasterOnline
During a news conference Tuesday July 22, 2025, it was announced that the Lancaster East data center will be developed by Chirisa Technology Parks and Machine Investment Group at the site of the former LSC Communications, 216 Greenfield Road in Lancaster city. Part of the existing structure, right, will be demolished as part of the project.
The site of a planned data center in Lancaster County changed hands for $75 million last week, shortly before the project’s developers announced they will partner with a private equity firm to invest $4 billion in the project.
The former LSC Communications printing plant at 216 Greenfield Road, Lancaster city, is being converted into a data center that is expected to be operating in summer 2027.
Data centers house computer systems that power services like artificial intelligence and cloud computing. The rise of AI has led to a boom of new centers being proposed nationwide, and growing concerns over their water and electricity usage, noise, and impact on air quality, including in Lancaster County.
The property’s new owner is a holding company, LPE 01 Propco LLC, with the same address as the Chicago office of Blue Owl Capital. The Greenfield Road site was previously owned by Machine Investment Group, one of the project’s co-developers.
In February, Machine purchased the shuttered plant from LSC along with another one at 1375 Harrisburg Pike for a combined $130 million.
Blue Owl, an international private equity firm, was recently announced as a partner in Chirisa Technology Parks and Machine’s joint venture that plans to build data centers in Lancaster city. In the same announcement, the partnership said plans to collectively spend $4 billion on the Lancaster city data centers previously announced by AI and cloud computing firm CoreWeave.
That planned investment includes $200 million in local power grid infrastructure improvements.
The companies did not specify if the $4 billion investment will be on top of the $6 billion already pledged by CoreWeave. They also didn’t say whether it would be spent exclusively at the Greenfield Road location, where Chirisa plans to build a second data center after the current phase is complete.
While not included in the recent sale, the Harrisburg Pike property is also zoned for data centers just like the one on Greenfield Road, according to a determination from the city’s zoning officer. Chirisa has said there is no current timeline for its development.
A city resident recently appealed the zoning officer’s determination, arguing they were improperly classified as “wholesale trade and storage.” The city’s zoning hearing board is set to hear the appeal next month. Lancaster city council also is looking at a zoning ordinance amendment that would include new regulations on data centers.
Efforts to reach Blue Owl Capital, Chirisa Technology Parks, Machine Investment Group and CoreWeave on Thursday were unsuccessful.
A collection of interviews, photos, and music videos, featuring local musicians who have stopped by the WITF performance studio to share a little discussion and sound. Produced by WITF’s Joe Ulrich.
