• Proposed 430-acre campus to include four data centers and a substation in Beloit, Turtle townships
• No application submitted before Beloit’s moratorium took effect, subjecting development within the town to restrictions
• Adjacent Turtle Township to consider moratorium this week

The Town of Beloit, Wisconsin, has blocked a proposed Meta data center project through a 12-month moratorium on hyperscale data center development.

The Town Board of Supervisors voted Oct. 12 to enact the moratorium, which allows for a six-month extension, following public opposition to the proposed Project Cornmaze, which was unveiled by California-based real estate developer Panattoni earlier this year.

The proposed campus would span more than 430 acres across the towns of Beloit and Turtle and include four data centers and a substation, according to Panattoni’s project website.

Panattoni is the developer behind the proposal, and Meta is the intended end user, Beloit Community Development Director Tim Kienbaum confirmed.

Despite the dedicated project web page and public informational meetings throughout the last few months, neither town has received a formal application for the data center project, Kienbaum and Turtle Town Board Chairwoman Donna Redner told NPM.

As a result, no application was submitted before Beloit’s moratorium took effect, and development within the town is subject to the moratorium’s restrictions.

Turtle officials will also consider a data center moratorium this week, and the nearby Town of Rock already has a 12-month data center moratorium in place.

Project history

The project initially surfaced in public records under Cambrin LLC, which signed a pre-development agreement with Beloit in July 2025.

Wisconsin Watch previously reported on confidentiality agreements between local governments and Cambrin LLC, the company initially tied to the proposed project. According to the outlet, Cambrin’s name and email address also appeared in documents connected to Meta’s data center project in Beaver Dam.

Panattoni has since taken over the proposal.

In Turtle, Redner explained that former Turtle Board Chairman Roger Anclam, who was recalled in an Oct. 6 election following concerns about transparency, also signed a nondisclosure agreement with Cambrin.

Panattoni proposed a cost-reimbursement agreement to Turtle in July, which the Town Board initially approved on July 8.

The board later rejected a revised version of the agreement, according to the town’s website.

Redner told NPM the agreement was submitted after the town initiated a recall of Anclam and that the board subsequently rejected it.

Project plans

Project Cornmaze is proposed for quarry land between East Philhower and West Beloit-Rock Town Line roads, according to Panattoni.

The facilities are to use closed-loop cooling, as well as an estimated maximum of 50,000 gallons of water per day. Final water demand has yet to be confirmed.

The project website also states Panattoni “is working with Alliant Energy to evaluate the infrastructure required to support the project,” but exact power demands haven’t been publicly identified.

NPM’s interconnection queue data is tracking six pre-operational power projects in Rock County, totaling roughly 775 MW. Three projects, totaling 405 MW, involve natural gas and energy storage and are associated with Alliant Energy.

Additionally, the developer is to fund any infrastructure improvements required to serve the project.

At full buildout – estimated to take five or more years – the campus is expected to create between 50 and 100 jobs, according to the site.

Neither Panattoni nor Meta responded to requests for comment.

Panattoni also has two other projects under development, including a USD 10bn, 1 GW Google project in Wayne County, Michigan and a USD 2bn, 240 MW Amazon project Stark County, Ohio.

Across the country, NPM is tracking 33 planned, under construction and operational Meta data center projects.