Development & Ownership
Who is developing the data centers?
The data centers are being developed by Chirisa Technology Parks.
Is the City of Lancaster a partner in the data center development?
No. The City of Lancaster has no stake in the projects. They are entirely owned by private entities.
Who owns the properties located at 216 Greenfield Road and 1375 Harrisburg Pike?
The properties are owned by Greenfield Road Owner, LLC. (216 Greenfield Road) and Harrisburg Place Owner, LLC. (1375 Harrisburg Pike.) Both are subsidiaries of Chirisa Technology Parks.
What is the “Lancaster AI Hub”?
The Lancaster AI Hub is what the developer, Chirisa Technology Parks, is calling the entire project.
When did the developers purchase the properties?
The purchase and proposed use of two existing industrial sites, located at 216 Greenfield Road and 1375 Harrisburg Pike, was announced by the developers in February 2025. ($130M paid for former Donnelley-LSC printing plants in Lancaster– LNP 2/21/2025)
What were the properties used for prior to being purchased by Chirisa Technology Parks?
For decades, both properties served as commercial printing plants for R.R. Donnelley (later LSC Communications,) which produced magazines, catalogs, phone books, and other large run printed pieces. Both plants closed in 2023, and the buildings were sold by the owners. (Closure of former R.R. Donnelley plants caused by decline in demand for print catalogs and magazines – LNP 1/5/2023)
Development Incentives
Has the City of Lancaster offered any development incentives to the developers?
No. The City of Lancaster has not offered any development incentives (tax breaks, discounted fees, etc.) to the project. The project is also not eligible for the Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance (LERTA) or City Revitalization and Improvement Zone (CRIZ) programs.
Taxes & City Revenue
Is the project tax exempt?
No. The project is required to pay all applicable taxes, including real estate transfer taxes, and property taxes.
What revenue will the City of Lancaster receive from the project?
The City of Lancaster has/will receive four types of revenue from the project:
- When the buildings were purchased by Chirisa Technology Parks, the City received $327,345 from the real estate transfer tax, which is 0.5% of the sale price and set by City ordinance.
- The developer pays property taxes based on the assessed property value determined by the Lancaster County Tax Assessment Office.
- The City receives fees associated with building permits. These fees are used to offset the cost to the City to review the permits and conduct inspections.
- The City receives a portion of the funds designated by the Community Benefits Agreement to advance its sustainability initiatives.
What are the properties’ current assessed values?
As of 2025, the Lancaster County Tax Assessment Office has determined the following values for property tax calculations:
- 216 Greenfield Road – $11,880,000
- 1375 Harrisburg Pike – $11,367,900
- The Lancaster County Tax Assessment Office is completing a countywide reassessment in 2026, to become effective January 1, 2027. Assessed values will be updated when they are available.
As of 2025, these properties generate the following amount of property taxes due each year to the City of Lancaster:
- 216 Greenfield Road – $150,163
- 1375 Harrisburg Pike – $143,690
- Please note, these are only property taxes due to the City of Lancaster and do not include School District of Lancaster or County of Lancaster taxes.
Will the assessed values change after the development is complete?
The future assessed value for real estate taxes will be determined by the Lancaster County Tax Assessment Office. The City of Lancaster does not assess the taxable value of properties.
Economic Impact
What jobs will be created?
Chirisa Technology Parks has shared that the Greenfield site is expected to provide 600-1,000 construction jobs utilizing skilled labor, and the projects will scale up to 350 permanent local jobs including data scientists, facilities staff, electricians, and HVAC technicians.
Permits & Land Development
What permits will be required?
The project will require the same building permits required for other types of development, including but not limited to building permits, mechanical/electrical/plumbing permits, occupancy permits, right-of-way permits, stormwater permits, and tree permits.
What land development reviews are required?
Phase 1 of 216 Greenfield Road is an adaptive reuse of an existing building. Under PA law, this does not require land development review or approval. Based upon the City’s review of the Phase 1 building permit, none of the work proposed under this permit is subject to the City’s subdivision and land development ordinance and Planning Commission approval.
Phase 2 of 216 Greenfield Road extends beyond the building’s existing footprint and involves significant site improvements; therefore, it requires land development review and approval by the Planning Commission.
Chirisa Technology Parks has indicated that their planned work on the 1375 Harrisburg Pike site will require land development review and approval by the Planning Commission.
Zoning
How are the properties at 216 Greenfield Road and 1375 Harrisburg Pike zoned?
These properties are zoned for Suburban Manufacturing (SM), which is regulated by Chapter 300 of the Code of the City of Lancaster. The SM district is intended to accommodate the most intense industrial uses, which have greater land area requirements and the need for proximity to regional transportation networks and other infrastructure. A data center use has been deemed consistent with this zoning district.
What changes is the City considering to regulate data centers?
On August 15, 2025 City Council directed the City Solicitor to draft a Zoning Ordinance amendment to regulate data centers. City Council held a first reading of the ordinance on October 14, 2025.
The proposed amendment was provided to the City Planning Commission and the County Planning Commission for review and comment. City staff received comments and have worked to incorporate them into the amendment.
A hearing regarding the proposed amendment we held on June 24, 2026. City Council will consider the amendment for final adoption in July 2026.
Community Benefits Agreement (CBA)
Who negotiated the CBA?
The CBA was negotiated by the Sorace Administration and Chirisa Technology Parks. The Sorace Administration used feedback from City staff, City Council, and public comments at Council meetings to drive the CBA’s priorities.
Water Usage
How much water will the project use?
Chirisa Technology Parks has indicated the project will use air cooing and a closed-loop water system for cooling, which does not require a regular supply of water. Chirisa Technology Parks has indicated that water consumption will be similar to a small office building and will use less water than the property’s pervious use as a printing facility (Lancaster city data centers’ water allotment to be 80% less than former printing plants – LNP 9/26/2025)
Will the City be required to provide large volumes of water for the project in the future?
No. Existing ordinances protect the City of Lancaster from being required to provide water to any customer under any circumstances, especially if it does not have the capacity to do so. The PA Department of Environmental Protection also regulates the amount of water the City can draw from its source rivers, further safeguarding local water usage.
Electricity Usage
Can the City regulate how much electricity the data centers use, or how much they pay for electricity?
No. Under Pennsylvania law, the PA Public Utility Commission (PUC) determines the rates for PPL Electric (PPL) utility customers. Rates are influenced by a variety of factors including the costs of transmission and distribution of power by PPL as well as the PJM Interconnection, which is the wholesale supplier of electricity to 13 states including Pennsylvania.
How will the data center affect electricity rates?
According to PPL, “PPL is committed to keeping costs as low as possible for all customers, even while supporting large-scale industrial growth. Large load customers and data centers pay directly for necessary transmission upgrades that are only needed to serve their operation and any upgrades that provide reliability benefits to the broader system are spread among all customers. Connecting large load customers like data centers to our transmission system helps lower the transmission component of energy bills for all customers, as large load customers pay a significantly larger share of transmission charges on the network based on their energy usage.”
Who will be paying to upgrade electrical infrastructure to support the power required for the data center?
Chirisa Technology Parks is paying to replace and upgrade the existing substation at 216 Greenfield Road to support the increased power needed.
According to PPL, “PPL has invested in the reliability and resiliency of our transmission system to better serve our customers while making it ready to meet the increased demand from data centers and connect more renewable energy resources. PPL is nationally recognized for leading investments in grid enhancing technologies to increase capacity on our system and eliminate or delay transmission infrastructure build-out that otherwise would be required to meet additional load. Still, PPL expects data centers, especially larger ones, will require investment in transmission infrastructure depending on the size, location, and the specific needs of the customer as well as to accommodate load growth in these areas. The large load customer directly pays for their costs and any upgrades that provide reliability benefits to the broader system are spread among all customers. Electric contract provisions are in place to protect all customers.”
How is PPL Electric protecting electric customers from incurring more than their fair share of costs?
According to PPL, “PPL Electric has signed agreements with every large load customer or data center that requests to connect to our grid. There are two main cost components to connecting a data center to the grid. There is the cost specific to the data center, which they pay for directly. And then there are upgrade costs that all customers benefit from, and those costs are recovered by the FERC Formula Rate and shared across all customer groups. The agreement requires data center customers to pay a set amount based on their peak usage, even if they use less electricity, until they pay for service in an amount equal to the socialized cost of the upgrades. This protects customers in the event that large load customers, like data centers, no longer have their original requirements for electricity demand.”
How will this project affect power reliability for the surrounding community?
According to PPL, “As a regulated utility, we are obligated to serve this new load and all our customers’ needs in the most reasonable, least-cost manner. As with any new customer, we study each request to ensure they pay their fair share associated with the requirements they are putting on the system and that we can continue to deliver the reliable power our customers depend on.”
Other Quality of Life Concerns
What impacts will there be to air quality?
The PA Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP) is reviewing an air quality permit application submitted by the developer for emergency diesel generators at 216 Greenfield Road, which would provide backup power during outages. PA DEP has posted the draft permit approval in the Pennsylvania Bulletin on 11/15/2025, which serves as the official Public Notice and begins a 30-day public comment period. During this time, the public may review the permit materials at the appropriate PA DEP Regional Office and submit written comments, objections, additional information, or requests for a hearing. All comments must include contact information and the permit number. PA DEP will decide whether a hearing is needed and will notify participants if one is scheduled. The City of Lancaster is monitoring PA DEP’s review process and submitted municipal comments as part of PA DEP Municipal Notification requirement on 6/12/25.
How will noise pollution be addressed?
Chirisa has conducted acoustic sound studies of the potential noise impact of the proposed facilities. The City of Lancaster is independently evaluating their study findings. The goal of this work is to achieve minimal noise impacts on the community.
What fire prevention systems are in place?
The Fire Bureau and the City’s Senior Building Official have been involved in the review of building plans to ensure that state-of-the-art fire prevention systems are in place at the data center facility and to ensure our firefighters are trained and prepared for emergency response.