Data centers in Champaign County, Ohio: 1 project mapped

Imagery: Esri, Maxar

New York developer Thor Equities wants to build the Urbana Technology Hub, a 460,000-square-foot data center near Ohio 55 and U.S. 68 by the Rittal plant in Urbana. The city blocked it and Thor is suing. The project is on hold while the case is in Champaign County Common Pleas Court, where the city's written response is due October 2, 2026.

Urbana first welcomed the project. In April 2025 the city council annexed Thor's land, zoned it for manufacturing and made data centers a permitted use there, and in November 2025 it approved a tax break. After residents learned of the plan in early 2026, the zoning appeals board rejected Thor's site plan, the council passed a 12-month pause on data centers in March, and on June 16 it repealed the rule that allowed them.

Thor also filed a federal lawsuit, saying it spent more than $19 million on the project and that it would bring the city $3 million a year in taxes. Its statement rejected "the misinformation and outright nonsense being spread online about data centers." Outside Urbana, most of Champaign County's townships write their own zoning, and many have moved to ban data centers: the regional planning commission for Logan, Union and Champaign counties reviewed 28 nearly identical township bans between April and September 2026.

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.