1 million square-foot data center proposed in South DeKalb

Data Centers

October 1st, 2025

Cords and wires in a server. — Color-coordinated wires feeding in and out of computer components at the Coda data center in Midtown Atlanta. (Matthew Pearson/ WABE)

ELLENWOOD, Ga. — A 1-million-square-foot data center is being proposed at 4280 and 4358 Loveless Place and 2281 Pineview Trail in Ellenwood, Georgia, in South DeKalb County. The DeKalb County Commission deferred the application during its Sept. 30 zoning meeting.

According to a county staff report, the 95-acre site would be a data center campus with an outdoor electric substation. Three two-story buildings would be located on the site.

The county planning department is also working on a text amendment to regulate data centers, particularly large ones like this proposal. A moratorium on new data center developments is in place until Oct. 16.

A site plan shows a proposal for a one-million-square-foot data center campus proposed at 4280 and 4358 Loveless Place and 2281 Pineview Trail in Ellenwood, Georgia. (Courtesy of DeKalb County)

PCC-DeKalb, LLC is seeking a special land use permit for the center, which would be in a small lot residential mix and mixed-use low-density zoning districts. The site is also in the Bouldercrest Overlay District, Tier 5, and the Soapstone Historic District.

“While the [Bouldercrest Overlay District] land use table does not include a ‘Data Center’ land use category, it appears that the applicant has indicated the most similar land use in the BOD is ‘utility structure for transmission of service,’” the staff report says.

The staff considers the proposed use to be most similar to warehousing and storage, which is not allowed in Tier 5.

“Additionally, there is no ‘utility structure’ land use in the underlying land use table of Article 4 of the Zoning Ordinance, but the most similar land uses are ‘electric transformer station’ and ‘warehousing and storage,’” the staff report says.

Planning staff recommended deferral because the project conflicts with the overlay district rules and the county’s comprehensive plan. Several residents attended the hourslong meeting until the end to speak out against this proposal.

This story was provided by WABE media partner Decaturish.