Data centers in York County, South Carolina: 1 project mapped

Imagery: Esri, Maxar

York County's data center story is a single campus that grew in the telling. QTS, the Blackstone-owned developer, was recruited under the code name Project Cobra. The county approved its agreement in September 2023, and QTS acquired about 400 acres off Hands Mill Highway and Campbell Road, near Clover and Lake Wylie. Governor Henry McMaster's office announced it that year as a $1 billion project, QTS's first in South Carolina. By May 2026 QTS was describing an $8 billion campus of about nine buildings; the first phase is four buildings, with the first expected to operate in 2028 and a second construction round starting in 2027.

Residents have spent the year asking for numbers. At a May 12, 2026 question session at Oakridge Elementary in Clover, QTS's Jose Burns said the investment would send $40 million in tax money to local schools and $16 million to the county, alongside about 1,000 construction jobs and 200 permanent ones. At the June 15 council meeting, Chris Thompson of York said she had submitted questions six months earlier without a response: "No one goes into a business deal without having a number." Real estate agent Julie Ferraro told WBTV she has yet to meet a buyer who is fine with "seven, eight, 10 years of construction noise in my backyard."

On July 13, 2026, the council gave final approval, 6-0, to a nine-month moratorium on new data center approvals in unincorporated York County, effective immediately; council member William "Bump" Roddey, who represents the district that includes the QTS site, was absent. During the pause, which runs through April 2027, staff will study how data centers affect water, power, noise and neighboring property. Developments that already had civil site plan approval are exempt, but only for what was already approved, so any unbuilt QTS phases without that approval fall under the pause.

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.