New plans offer details, but questions remain about Cave City data center
The site plan depicts six separate buildings, each with a proposed footprint of 204,800 square feet.
CAVE CITY, Ky. — Newly submitted building plans for the proposed Cave Point Commerce Center data center development show six buildings totaling more than 1.2 million square feet, providing new details about a project that has raised questions among local officials and residents for months.
The architectural plans identify one of the buildings, labeled Data Center Bat Cave A, as a 204,800-square-foot, one-story facility at 404 Herbert Turner Road. The building is designed to stand 32 feet tall.
Brennan Crain
The site plan depicts six separate buildings, each with a proposed footprint of 204,800 square feet. If all six are constructed as shown, the development would encompass approximately 1,228,800 square feet.
The plans identify Cave Point LandCo LLC as the project entity. The company is connected to OTN Group, a development firm associated with industrial and digital infrastructure projects, including a data center proposal in nearby Franklin.
The plans show associated infrastructure and equipment, including parking areas, diesel generators, battery equipment and power blocks. The proposed building includes server space, warehouse and office areas, along with mechanical and support spaces.
Cave Point Commerce Center new construction plans.pdf by brennan.crain
Plans differ from earlier development concept
The newly submitted plans provide a different picture of the development than an economic impact report released in June.
That preliminary report described Cave Point Commerce Center as a proposed 600-acre campus with 10 buildings totaling approximately 2 million square feet. Five buildings were to be located within Cave City and five in unincorporated Barren County.
The report estimated the completed development could support 360 direct jobs, generate nearly $38 million in annual direct payroll and produce approximately $45.2 million in annual property tax revenue once fully assessed.
Brennan Crain
It also projected the campus would require 1,200 megawatts of electrical capacity and use approximately 300,000 gallons of water per day through a closed-loop cooling system.
The report described a proposed combination of on-site natural gas generation and electricity supplied by East Kentucky Power Cooperative. It also estimated approximately $32 million in electrical infrastructure improvements.
Those figures were preliminary planning estimates and have not been established as requirements for the six-building layout shown in the newly submitted plans.
It is not clear whether the current plans represent a revised overall development, an initial phase of the larger campus described in June or a separate proposal.
The architectural documents do not specify the project's total investment, anticipated electricity demand, water requirements, construction schedule or the identity of a future data center operator.
Road discontinuance tied to first two buildings
The plans also identify a road issue that must be resolved before permits can be issued for the first two buildings.
Hughes Road, shown on the plans as a 60-foot county right-of-way, is the subject of a discontinuance request before Barren County Fiscal Court. The request was submitted to the Barren County Attorney's Office on Oct. 22.
The road is a dead-end that extends off Herbert Turner Road.
Barren County Attorney Mike Richardson confirmed receipt of the request and said it must go through a legal process outlined in state law.
Under KRS 178.116, a county road may be discontinued if it no longer serves a public need, provides necessary access to private property or has not been maintained or policed by the county or state within the past three years.
If discontinued, possession of the road generally reverts to the owner or owners of the property to which it originally belonged. The law also outlines circumstances in which a road may be closed to public use but remain available for private access.
Kentucky Industrial Alliance LLC owns the property surrounding Hughes Road.
“We have to do it according to statute,” Richardson said. “Obviously, if we don’t do it correctly, that would be the only snafu in the process.”
According to the plans, the first two buildings do not currently meet minimum setback requirements because of the road.
The documents state that permitting for Buildings A and B is contingent on entry of a fiscal court order discontinuing the road. An amended consolidation plat and final plot plan would then be submitted.
Richardson said the road discontinuance process typically takes 30 to 60 days and would be finalized if the fiscal court votes to approve the request.
Companies involved in the proposal
Cave City and the Joint City-County Planning Commission are involved in a lawsuit with Kentucky Industrial Alliance LLC, which owns the property proposed for the data center campus.
Kentucky Industrial Alliance filed suit after Cave City enacted a 12-month moratorium on accepting data center-related construction proposals.
The Planning Commission follows the city’s directive and cannot accept or process plans for the proposed development while the moratorium remains in effect.
Although the newly submitted architectural documents identify Cave Point LandCo LLC as the project entity, building permit applications list Adam DeSimone, a partner with Nashville-based OTN Group, as the project contact.
The distinction is important because the property owner, developer and end user, the company that would ultimately operate the facility, appear to be separate entities.
The architectural documents, dated Nov. 6, are marked “Issued for Permit Only — Not for Construction.” Signage along Herbert Turner Road appears to indicate activity at the site, though the nature of that activity is unclear.
Barrenside has requested comment from OTN Group and Kentucky Industrial Alliance but had not received responses as of publication.
