09/02/2026
Ferguson councilman revives effort to build data center, tech hub on former Emerson campus
FERGUSON — A councilman here is reviving a plan to grant controversial tax incentives for a tech hub and data center pitched at the former Emerson campus.
Councilman Nick Kasoff, in a Facebook post Tuesday, said the development would generate revenue comparable to a new city tax, and the developer now agrees to pay $7.5 million more for city neighborhood improvements over the next decade if the project goes through.
"We have a choice of stagnation with slow decline and increasing taxes, or a well-funded city with the resources to improve life for all who live here," Kasoff wrote.
Legislation proposed by Kasoff would reconsider $1.5 billion in tax incentives for developer Jim Onder, a well-known local personal injury attorney, to turn the 217-acre Emerson campus into a "center for technology, energy innovation, advanced manufacturing and research."
The project, at the former office complex at West Florissant and Lucas and Hunt Road, would be among the largest economic developments in the St. Louis region. It would renovate several buildings, including a data center, and feature up to $19.5 billion in equipment purchases.
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Much of the organizing is being done over coffee, at rallies and during potlucks. “It’s been very cool to see everyone come out of the woodwork.”
But it comes amid local and national opposition to data centers over concerns about energy consumption, rising utility bills, pollution and tax breaks.
Ferguson city officials in May rejected granting tax incentives for Onder's plan to convert the site, which is already zoned for industrial use. The council voted 3-3 on the bill after weeks of debate, strong opposition from residents and calls from the St. Louis County NAACP, Ferguson Library District and the Ferguson-Florissant School District for environmental protections and other community benefits.
Council critics, including Mayor Adrian Shropshire, said they shared the concerns and wanted the city to take an active role in seeking alternative development proposals, like housing or mixed-use projects. Onder and council proponents said the development would use "green," environmentally friendly technology, would not affect utility bills and would generate a wealth of new tax revenues.
Kasoff said Tuesday that opponents "misrepresented" the plan and that it could have new support from the council amid a developing budget crisis in Ferguson.
After years of draining its cash reserves to plug budget holes, the city faced a deficit projected to grow over the coming years. Officials cut about $2 million from its budget for the next year with layoffs, hiring freezes, and halts to spending programs and considered, but rejected, raising taxes to generate new revenue.
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The site, because it is private property zoned for industrial use, could be turned into a "steel mill" or other project that would be more disruptive to neighbors and generate less revenue for the city, Kasoff argued.
"I’m confident that a majority of council will understand the benefits and necessity of this plan, and that it will be a great thing for the community," Kasoff said in an interview.
Kasoff said he would reintroduce the same bill with one new addition: Onder would pay $750,000 a year for 10 years to the Ferguson Neighborhood Improvement Program, a city-managed nonprofit that funds grants for home and sidewalk repairs, tree-trimming and other improvements.
Under the plan, Ferguson would grant the project up to 15 years of tax abatements on real estate, personal property and sales taxes through 2050 worth between $355 million and $1.5 billion in revenue, based on the amount of equipment installed on the site.
Copeland Electric, an air conditioning and refrigeration company headquartered there, would remain on site, and Ferguson would require Onder's firm to create 100 full-time jobs and invest at least $175 million in the campus by 2029. The firm would make payments to Ferguson in lieu of taxes ranging from $152 million and $538 million through 2050. And the firm would pay Ferguson an additional $700,000 for "mitigation of community impacts" and emergency services.
Onder, who closed on his purchase of the Emerson campus in July, said Tuesday that agreement to give $7.5 million to the Ferguson neighborhood improvement program for the next decade came out of recent discussions with council members and community leaders, which made him confident the project would pass.
"We sought input from the community and leaders and the consensus was there was a need for a group independent of council to have adequate funding to do projects needed in Ferguson," he said.
Mayor Shropshire, who had previously opposed the tech hub and data center plan, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Onder bought the Emerson campus from Copeland Electric, which had owned the site since Emerson moved out in 2022. A sale price was not immediately available Tuesday. Earlier this year, Onder had said he intended to buy it for $18 million. He did not confirm the sale price Tuesday.
The property features 11 buildings spanning nearly 1 million square feet of space. It also has four tennis courts, two softball fields, a helipad and a playground, and it's near a Norfolk Southern railroad line. The site is zoned for industrial use.
Onder's proposal called for expanding an existing 35,000-square-foot data center into one about 135,000 square feet. That would make it among the smaller data centers proposed in the St. Louis region, which range in size from 50,000 square feet to hundreds of acres. Emerson installed the existing data center in 2009 at a cost of $50 million as part of an effort to consolidate its infrastructure and make it more energy efficient.
The Ferguson City Council next meets at 7 p.m. Sept. 8 in city hall at 110 Church Street.
