Data center pitched for 18 acres of City of Industry golf course

For a Los Angeles County builder or land owner, it is a test of whether a data center can win entitlement by keeping a golf course in place. Urbanize notes data centers have drawn pushback across Southern California, including El Segundo’s canceled project and Monterey Park’s ban on new ones. The site abuts the 605 Freeway corridor, near the confluence of San Jose Creek and the San Gabriel River.

The numbers

• 18 acres of the property would be reconfigured, per the release.
• Nine holes of golf would remain.
• 13% less golf course water use than current conditions, which the backers say the air-cooled chiller technology could deliver. We have not verified it.
• No power subsidies are being sought, and the backers say the project would not affect rates for surrounding communities, according to Urbanize LA.

The reporting does not give a data center size or power capacity, and we found no city filing carrying one.

What’s next

Ramus’s president told Urbanize LA the project will require a full environmental impact report. Birtcher Development is leading the entitlement work. The backers say they have signed a project labor agreement with the California Building Trades.

A Birtcher Development representative said in the release, “We intend to establish a process, through a community benefits board, where resident’s voices will be heard.”

We searched for a City of Industry planning agenda, case number or CEQA notice of preparation and did not find one, so the timeline for public review is not yet known. This article relies on the release as reported by Urbanize LA, and we will update it when a city record posts. For more regional coverage, see Los Angeles.