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Data Center Registry

Markley Group One Lowell Data Center

Lowell, Middlesex County, Massachusetts · All 2 Markley Group sites

OperatingIn litigationAI mixed useRecord updated July 6, 2026

Markley Group One Lowell Data Center is an operating data center in Lowell, Massachusetts (Middlesex County), operated by Markley Group. The public record puts it at announced January 2015. It is or has been the subject of litigation over its siting, permitting, or operation.

Every line on this page traces to a public source listed at the bottom. Where a figure was looked for and not found, the row says so. A blank is never a zero.

Facility record

Operating

Operator
Markley Group
Facility type
Data center, AI use mixed
Location
Lowell, Middlesex County, MA
Coordinates
42.6334, -71.3162
Power capacity
Not established from a public source
Land
Not established from a public source
Investment
Not established from a public source
Announced
January 2015
Utility
Grid; 27 on-site diesel backup generators
Power source
Grid
Cooling
Evaporative
Water use
0.12 million gallons a day, reported
Jobs
Not established from a public source
Public subsidy
Lowell 20-year property & personal-property tax abatement (~$77M in foregone city taxes over 20 yrs; ~$12M net to the city), City of Lowell, MA, 2015
Community reception
In litigation
Source confidence
Confirmed by multiple independent sources or official documentation

Timeline from the record

Newest first. Record entries come from the filings and reports the registry cites. Coverage entries are headlines from publisher feeds we monitor daily, linked to the outlet; last checked September 14, 2026.

  1. April 2026
    Operating
    Lowell City Council passes one-year moratorium on data center construction and expansion; residents file first Massachusetts data center lawsuit Source: Boston.com
  2. July 2025
    Operating
    Massachusetts DEP approves air permit for 8 additional diesel generators (27 total); residents appeal permit Source: Boston.com
  3. January 2016
    Operating
    Markley Group One Lowell data center opens on site of former Prince Spaghetti factory; 352,000 sq ft, largest data center in Massachusetts Source: Boston.com

Opposition and litigation at this site

Yes. Markley Group One Lowell Data Center in Lowell, Middlesex County, Massachusetts is or has been the subject of litigation over its siting, permitting, or operation. Massachusetts' first data center lawsuit filed April 27, 2026 in Middlesex County Superior Court by Honest Future for Lowell (10 plaintiffs) represented by Yale Law School Environmental Justice Clinic, Fitch Law Partners, and Conservation Law Foundation.

How the community has taken it

Reception is a sourced signal, not an editorial judgment: in litigation means the facility is or has been the subject of a lawsuit related to its siting, permitting, or operation.

Massachusetts' first data center lawsuit filed April 27, 2026 in Middlesex County Superior Court by Honest Future for Lowell (10 plaintiffs) represented by Yale Law School Environmental Justice Clinic, Fitch Law Partners, and Conservation Law Foundation. Plaintiffs allege unlawful permitting; facility sits 84 feet from closest diesel engine to residential properties. Sacred Heart and Back Central neighborhoods are designated environmental justice communities. One-year moratorium on expansion passed by Lowell City Council.

Source: Boston.com

Power and water

27 diesel generators (expanded from 7 original; 8 added in 2025 via DEP air permit); 16 cooling towers. Expansion moratorium passed by Lowell City Council April 2026.

16 evaporative cooling towers, Merrimack River-sourced. Markley self-reports daily use of 60,000-120,000 gallons (0.06-0.12 MGD), peaking ~118,000 gpd in summer, corroborated by WBZ-TV water-bill records - far below hyperscale AI campuses.

Public money on the record

ProgramAmountGranted byYear
Lowell 20-year property & personal-property tax abatement (~$77M in foregone city taxes over 20 yrs; ~$12M net to the city)Not establishedCity of Lowell, MA2015

Notes on the record

Coordinates are approximate city centroid (Sacred Heart/Back Central neighborhoods, Lowell). Facility serves 100+ customers including hospitals, universities, and police departments. Expansion includes land purchases by Markley near old power plant. Expansion plans stalled by moratorium. AI demand cited as driver of expansion since 2022. Delivered permanent-job counts are disputed - the abatement promised 100 jobs; the city and critics count ~26-30 full-time local workers while Markley cites ~100 total, with construction peaking ~120 (IBEW Local 103); recorded as unresolved (honest-zero). No confirmed total capital-investment figure is public ('hundreds of millions'). Massachusetts' 2024 sales-tax exemption is statutory eligibility, not a confirmed Markley award.

What the record does not establish, and the document that would

In every fight on our tracker the decisive fact came out of a public records request. These are the requests for this site.

  • Power capacity in megawatts
  • Permanent jobs promised
  • Land area
Which document closes each gap
Power capacity in megawatts
The utility's large load service agreement, the interconnection request in the grid operator's queue, or the electrical site plan in the permit file.
Permanent jobs promised
The economic development application or incentive agreement, which usually states a job commitment and a clawback.
Land area
The rezoning application, the plat, or the deed recorded with the county.

Have one of these documents? Send it to us and we will add it to the record with attribution.

Other sites within 30 miles

Distances are between recorded coordinates, many of which are a city or county centroid, so treat them as approximate. Cumulative load on one utility and one aquifer is the question a planning commission rarely asks.

Questions people ask about this site

Is there opposition to the Markley Group One Lowell Data Center in Lowell?

Yes. Markley Group One Lowell Data Center in Lowell, Middlesex County, Massachusetts is or has been the subject of litigation over its siting, permitting, or operation. Massachusetts' first data center lawsuit filed April 27, 2026 in Middlesex County Superior Court by Honest Future for Lowell (10 plaintiffs) represented by Yale Law School Environmental Justice Clinic, Fitch Law Partners, and Conservation Law Foundation.

Has anyone filed a lawsuit over the Markley Group One Lowell Data Center?

Yes. This site is recorded as being in litigation. The case, the court, and the filings we hold are listed on this page under the timeline and the sources.

How much water does Markley Group One Lowell Data Center use?

0.12 million gallons a day is the reported figure on record. Cooling is recorded as evaporative. 16 evaporative cooling towers, Merrimack River-sourced.

Who operates Markley Group One Lowell Data Center, and how big is it?

Markley Group is the operator on record. We hold 2 sites for that company across the registry. No capacity figure is on record for this site.

How to cite this page

SueDataCenters.org Data Center Registry, "Markley Group One Lowell Data Center," updated July 6, 2026, https://suedatacenters.org/data-centers/markley-lowell-ma.

Facility data from Compute Atlas (E. Kubiak), version 1.32.0 (September 7, 2026), licensed CC BY 4.0, record https://www.compute-atlas.com/facilities/markley-lowell-ma, retrieved September 14, 2026.

Corrections with a public source are welcome at the Compute Atlas record or through our contact page. The whole registry is available as CSV and JSON under CC BY 4.0.

Sources for this record

As compiled and cited by Compute Atlas, with our own reporting appended. Archived links are used where the original has moved.

  1. 1.Lowell Residents File Massachusetts' First Lawsuit Against a Data Center · Boston.com · retrieved July 6, 2026
  2. 2.Lessons From Lowell: How a Data Center's Expansion Has Choked a Small Town · The Harvard Crimson · retrieved July 6, 2026
  3. 3.Take a rare look inside the largest data center in Massachusetts · CBS Boston · retrieved July 7, 2026
  4. 4.The Dungeon Over Lowell: How the Data Center Boom Divided One City's Working People · Working Mass · retrieved July 7, 2026

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