1. Why do we need data centers? 

A data center is the physical location of the internet/cloud. Data centers provide the secure environment required to ingest, process, store, and distribute massive volumes of data for applications ranging from cloud computing and AI training to corporate telecommunications, personal data and photo storage, and streaming services. 

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2. How will you protect the Monocacy River while all of Frederick County is in a moderate drought condition?

Water resources, including the Monocacy River, are protected in the City by robust stormwater regulations that ensure compliance with the Clean Water Act. As part of the development review process, any proposed development will need to comply with the City’s stormwater regulations.

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The City also relies on four treated water sources: the Monocacy River, Linganore Creek, Fishing Creek Reservoir, and the Potomac River. These sources are regulated by the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) through Water Appropriation and Use Permits, which include provisions for safe yields and low-flow conditions. In addition, the City maintains a 50-million-gallon reservoir that supplies the Lester Dingle Water Treatment Plant.

 

3. Why aren't you waiting until Maryland's Data Center Study is completed before moving forward, since its conclusions likely will affect your proposed project? 

Trammell Crow Company is working on our own fiscal impact analysis, which will provide more relevant information regarding data centers in the City of Frederick than a statewide report without a local focus.

 

4. What is Frederick’s projected tax revenue from data centers over the next 20 years, and what incentives, if any, are expected to be offered during that same period?

The Fiscal Impact Study prepared by Sage Policy Group for Nexus at Frederick Commerce Center projects that data center buildout at Nexus would generate approximately $14M in annual property tax revenue for the City. The City will determine what, if any, incentives are offered to data centers.

 

5. How often would the generators be power tested? Or what is the industry best practice to do so? 

The industry best practice is for each generator to be exercised for approximately 15-20 minutes once a month.

 

6. For the Frederick city proposed data center, where are they proposing to source the water? 

Trammell Crow Company is currently seeking approval for a zoning text amendment that would allow data centers on these properties. The next step is a site plan, during which Adequate Public Facilities (APFO) testing is completed to ensure that municipal systems are adequate, or improved by the developer to be adequate to accommodate the proposed project. During this phase, the exact source or sources of water will be determined.

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More broadly, the City’s treated water supply comes from four sources: the Monocacy River, Linganore Creek, Fishing Creek Reservoir, and the Potomac River. These sources are regulated by the Maryland Department of the Environment through Water Appropriation and Use Permits that include safe yield and low-flow protections. The City also maintains a 50-million-gallon reservoir supplying the Lester Dingle Water Treatment Plant.

 

7. What are your plans to address urban heat island, climate change effects, and water use? 

Trammell Crow Company is currently seeking approval for a zoning text amendment that would allow data centers on these properties. During the future site plan process, specific environmental design components and mitigation measures would be identified.

Existing local and state regulations related to stormwater management, lot coverage, landscaping, and environmental impacts would also apply to the project. Approximately 75 acres of afforestation have already been planted within Frederick Commerce Center, with an additional 20 acres required for future development. Landscaping requirements, additional plantings, material selections, and other heat island mitigation strategies would also be evaluated as part of the permitting and review process.

 

8. How will having data centers in Frederick County benefit local tech organizations? 

Data centers create a variety of jobs and career opportunities within the tech community, including IT professionals, technicians, electricians, as well as other industries that service data center properties, including security professionals, and building system monitoring firms.  

 

9. What happens if they don’t get built? 

Trammell Crow Company acquired these properties with the intent of developing an industrial park with warehouse/logistics space or other development allowed under the M1 Light Industrial zoning, and that remains a viable plan in the event data centers are not built.

 

10. What is the land use policy? 

The properties are currently zoned M1 Light Industrial. 

 

11. Data centers have limited life spans. What happens to the land when the data center is no longer viable? Who will ensure the land can be reused, and the water system replenished? 

First, there is no evidence that data center development is any more vulnerable to not being in operation than any other use in the City. Over the course of any building’s life, the owner will make business decisions about renovating, replacing, and redeveloping the existing building and property. There are already regulations in place for environmental protection for this and every other use in the City, including local, state, and federal regulations related to air, land, and water impacts; it is the responsibility of the owner to comply with these regulations, and the owner’s cost to do so as well.

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12. What is the value of the data center construction project? 

At Nexus at Frederick Commerce Center, the construction of data centers, but not the server equipment inside the building, is conservatively expected to cost approximately $1.6 billion.

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13. How many workers will be employed during construction? How many of the workers will be Frederick City or Frederick County residents? How much city or county wage tax will they pay that can be attributed to the construction? 

The construction phase of Nexus at Frederick Commerce Center will create approximately 4,100 construction jobs, with a job defined as one full- or part-time position that exists for one year. Based on Census Bureau data, an estimated 45% of those workers will live in the City of Frederick or Frederick County. Including secondarily supported jobs, the construction phase will generate an estimated $3.2 million in income tax revenue for Frederick County and $100,000 for the City.

 

14. When the data center is completed, how many people will it employ? How many of them will be Frederick City or Frederick County residents? How much in taxes will Frederick City and Frederick County pay? 

The data centers at Nexus at Frederick Commerce Center will employ an estimated 220 people once completed, about 90 of whom are estimated to be City of Frederick or Frederick County residents. Including secondary jobs, data center operations will generate about $400,000 in income tax revenue for the County each year and about $16,000 for the City.

 

15. How much will Frederick City and County taxpayers be subsidizing the data center construction and infrastructure improvements, and maintenance? e.g., roads, and water?

None! The developer is responsible for the required improvements made to the City infrastructure, including roads, water, and sewer, as required by the City’s Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance.

 

16. How much will Frederick City and County taxes increase or decrease due to the data centers? 

Nexus at Frederick Commerce Center is anticipated to produce approximately $19.5M of recurring real estate tax revenue for Frederick County and $13.7M of recurring real estate tax revenue for the City based on current tax rates, which are set by the municipalities.

 

17. Is Nexus at Frederick Commerce Center being built to a specific design criterion, or have the buildings been designed yet? 

At this time, Trammell Crow Company is working on the Zoning Text Amendment that will allow the construction of a data center within the City of Frederick. While no design work is underway at this time, the data centers will be designed and built to comply with the City’s Land Management Code, including additional data center performance standards proposed in the Zoning Text Amendment; currently, there are enhanced standards for noise, setbacks, building design, and generators, to name a few.

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18. Is Nexus at Frederick Commerce Center being built for a specific owner/operator? Will the data centers be for one user/operator, or will they be co-located facilities?

At this time, Trammell Crow Company is working on the Zoning Text Amendment that will allow the construction of a data center within

the City of Frederick. There is no specific end-user or operator involved with the project at this time.

 

19. What is the preferred design for cooling? Constant exchange with water? Closed Loop? What is the industry view on cooling using treated wastewater?

Different cooling designs use different resources, and there are tradeoffs with each. Users seek to be as efficient as possible when designing cooling systems and look at factors like available water and electricity, and climate in the project location. Trammell Crow Company is working on the Zoning Text Amendment at this time; cooling design will occur as part of the site plan and improvement plan processes. As part of the design work, we will evaluate the use of treated wastewater as part of the cooling design. 

 

20. Traffic congestion in and around Adamstown has increased significantly over the past year and a half, particularly near the data center developments. With ongoing construction, continued residential growth, and already heavily traveled roadways, what plans does the City have to mitigate traffic impacts during the construction phase and address long-term transportation challenges for residents, businesses, and commuters?

Construction is inherently disruptive; however, the City has regulations on construction hours, noise, and robust erosion and sediment control requirements. Additionally, developers and contractors also have a number of best practices designed to minimize disruption specifically related to traffic, including bussing workers in from other locations, staggering shifts so that workers are not arriving all at the same time, and scheduling material and equipment delivery outside of rush hour.

 

21. What is the current consumption/utilization percentage for the regional power grid? How much would a fully utilized site increase the percentage? 

First Energy is the electric provider in this region and assesses its ability to provide requested electric loads, add new customers, maintain its mandated grid reliability, and allow for appropriate redundancies through a process called a Detailed Load Study.