Westover Data Center Project

Learn about the proposed Westover Data Center Project

This page lays out how we got here and the standards being proposed for the project.

Inside a data center: a clean, brightly lit aisle between rows of server racks with tidy overhead cabling

A data center is a building full of computers.

Inside are rows of computer equipment that store information and run the online services people already use every day. When you stream a movie, back up family photos, check the weather, or deposit a check from your phone, that work happens inside a building like this one.

From the outside, a data center looks like a large warehouse. There is no smokestack, no assembly line, and nothing coming in or going out but information. Once construction is complete, the day-to-day is technicians, engineers, and support staff keeping the equipment running.

How a data center looks, sounds, and sits on its land comes down to the standards behind it. The standards being proposed for this project are laid out below.

Every step so far has happened in public.

This project has moved through Westover’s own land-use process, with public meetings, a public hearing, and unanimous votes, over more than two years. Here is the record.

  1. May 2024

    First public discussion

    Interest in the property for a data center was first discussed publicly at a Westover City Council meeting.

  2. Fall 2024

    Planning Commission review

    The Westover Planning Commission took up the rezoning question and set a public hearing, discussing jobs, retail, and growth impacts on the record.

  3. December 2024

    Public hearing

    A public hearing was held on rezoning the property. The Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval.

  4. February 2025

    Council approves rezoning

    The Westover City Council unanimously approved rezoning the land to EC-I, which permits data centers by right.

  5. 2025–2026

    Land purchased, zoning confirmed

    The land was purchased once the zoning was in place, and the City later confirmed the zoning in writing.

  6. August 6, 2026

    An agreement with the City

    The project volunteered a 45-day pause on permit applications, agreed to hold a public town hall, and began working with the City on standards for how the project will be developed.

  7. August 20, 2026

    Town hall

    Project representatives answered the community's questions directly, in public, on the record.

Timeline drawn from public records and from reporting by the Shelby County Reporter.

The standards being proposed, in writing.

The project is working on a Development Agreement with the City of Westover and has put forward proposed standards for how the campus would be designed and operated. These standards are more restrictive than what is typically required, and in a Development Agreement they would become binding requirements.

Water

The proposed standards call for closed-loop cooling that does not consume water evaporatively. Utility supply only: no wells and no draw on the aquifer.

Trees & buffers

The existing forest would stay and serve as the screen, with proposed setbacks and natural buffers adjacent to neighbors far beyond what Westover’s code requires.

Sound

Proposed sound limits at the property line, measured to a recognized national standard, with routine generator testing confined to weekday business hours.

Light

Proposed lighting standards: all site lighting fully shielded and directed downward, with no direct light above the horizontal plane.

Power

No primary power generation on site under the proposed standards. The campus would be served by Alabama Power, with on-site equipment limited to backup/emergency generators.

Roads & infrastructure

Under the proposed standards, the developer funds the water infrastructure the project needs, repairs construction-related road damage, and pays for the traffic improvements the project requires, at its own expense.

The standards would be binding no matter who the tenant is. The right neighbor matters as much to this project as it does to Westover.

Asked around Westover. Answered here.

What exactly is being proposed?
A data center campus on roughly 450 acres along US Highway 280 in Westover, built in phases over several years. A data center is a secure building full of computer equipment: the infrastructure behind everyday things like online banking, medical records, and video calls. The land is already zoned for this use, and the zoning was approved unanimously through Westover’s public process in 2024 and 2025.
Who is behind the project?
The land is owned by Swift Willow Property, working with an experienced data center company, AGP Group. The specific company that would ultimately occupy the campus has not yet been secured.
Will it drain our water?
No. The proposed standards include closed-loop cooling that does not consume water evaporatively, supplied only by the utility system, with no wells and no draw on the aquifer. The developer pays for any water infrastructure upgrades the project needs.
Will it be loud?
The proposed standards include sound limits at the property line, measured to a recognized national standard. Routine backup generator testing would be confined to weekday business hours.
Will it light up the night sky?
The proposed lighting standards are written so it won’t: every fixture on the site fully shielded and pointed downward, with no direct light above the horizontal plane.
What happens to the trees?
Most of the site’s screening is the existing forest itself, which stays. Buildings would sit behind proposed setbacks, with natural buffers adjacent to neighbors far beyond what Westover’s code requires, and supplemental planting where gaps exist.
Will my power bill go up?
Electric rates are set through Alabama Power and its regulators. What the project itself controls, it has put forward in writing: no primary power generation on site, and the developer funds the infrastructure the project needs.
What does Westover actually get out of this?
Long-term tax revenue and jobs, without the service burdens that residential growth brings. A project like this would mean hundreds of millions in tax revenue for Shelby County schools, and it is part of a region-wide plan to energize the 280 corridor.
What about traffic and road damage?
The site fronts a four-lane US highway, and under the proposed standards the developer funds the turn lanes, signals, and driveway improvements needed to prevent bottlenecks. The developer will also repair construction-related damage to state and county roads at its own expense.
What happens next?
Through September 20, the project has voluntarily paused all permit applications while it works with the City to finalize development standards. If and when a tenant is selected, the zoning and permitting process that follows gives the community continued oversight at every step.

Let us know your questions

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