Data centers in Scott County, Iowa: 1 project mapped

Imagery: Esri, Maxar

Meta owns 355 acres of farmland in north Davenport and has not said whether it will ever build on them. In May 2024 a Meta-controlled shell company, Vemerald LLC, proposed two data halls and support buildings totaling about 715,000 square feet on land near the Kraft-Heinz plant between Hillandale Road and Enterprise Way. Davenport approved a 60 percent property tax exemption for 20 years, estimated to be worth about $161 million, in return for at least $800 million of investment. The Iowa Economic Development Authority approved Meta's application under the state's High Quality Jobs Program, for 35 jobs. City documents valued the finished facility at $420 million, against $958,000 for the land. Meta paid $21 million for 10 parcels from three owners in July 2024 and March 2025, according to the Quad-City Times' review of county land records. It had said it would break ground in late 2025 and finish by the end of 2027 if it went ahead.

Nothing has been built. "Meta (Vemerald) purchased the land but has not announced any plans to build yet," city spokesperson Denise Hnytka told the Quad-City Times in 2026. The basic numbers are secret. Iowa American Water declined to discuss the project's water use, citing a non-disclosure agreement with Meta, and MidAmerican Energy declined to give its power demand, citing state rules protecting customer information. MidAmerican said it "does not expect the data center, if built, to increase customer rates," because large-load customers now bear the full cost of the infrastructure that serves them. The Quad Cities' existing data centers are small by comparison: Bluebird's in Bettendorf and South Front Networks' in Davenport, whose president said its two sites together use about 20,000 kilowatt-hours a month. Meanwhile Meta said in January 2026 that it expected to spend $115 billion to $135 billion on capital that year, mostly on data centers. What happens next is Meta's call, and it has given no start date.

Every project above is drawn from public records, filings and local reporting. Each row links to what it is based on. Statuses change, so check the source date before you rely on one. Found something wrong? Write to [email protected] and it gets fixed.