Project Butterfly (former Emerson campus)

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. September 10, 2026

   Proposed
   Package reintroduced at first reading by Council members Nick Kasoff and LaMika Covington, adding $750,000 a year for ten years to the Ferguson Neighborhood Improvement Program. No vote taken.
2. May 5, 2026

   Proposed
   City Council rejects the incentive package 3 to 3 with one abstention. Mayor Adrian Shropshire votes no; Council member Michael Palmer abstains.
3. March 14, 2026

   Proposed
   City Council passes Resolution 2026-05 authorizing negotiation with SSL Investments, with the Project Butterfly term sheet attached as Exhibit A.

Opposition and litigation at this site

Yes. Project Butterfly (former Emerson campus) in Ferguson, St. Louis County, Missouri is contested. Hearings, public comment, petitions, or organized opposition are on record. No lawsuit filed.

How the community has taken it

Reception is a sourced signal, not an editorial judgment: contested means active public debate is on record, with hearings, petitions, or organized opposition, without litigation.

No lawsuit filed. Bill at first reading before the Ferguson City Council September 10, 2026 after a 3 to 3 defeat on May 5, 2026; a final vote could come later in September. Rejected 3 to 3 with one abstention on May 5, 2026, then reintroduced at first reading September 10, 2026 with $7.5 million added for a neighborhood nonprofit and the abatement terms unchanged. Opposed by the Ferguson-Florissant School District, which estimates a $71 million real estate revenue loss over 15 years, the Ferguson Library District and the St. Louis County NAACP. Residents are pursuing a recall of three council members.

Power and water

The developer says Ameren historically supplied up to 14 MW and that the project will not exceed historical levels, while declining to state a maximum at full build out. The city's own term sheet budgets $400,000,000 for power grid infrastructure, more than half of all construction spending. The two figures have not been reconciled publicly. Missouri's large load tariff protections begin at 75 MW.

No daily usage figure exists. The city's Q and A states a daily estimate cannot be provided because tenants have not been identified. Campus water is supplied under a private contract rather than by Missouri American Water, and a closed loop system is described as possible.

Public money on the record

Notes on the record

Redevelopment of the former Emerson Electric headquarters campus, including expansion of a LEED Gold data center operating on site since 2009. The city's buildings are about 80 percent vacant. No data center tenant beyond anchor office tenant Copeland has been named publicly.

Our reporting on this site

• Ferguson Voted This Down in May. It Is Back With $7.5 Million Added, the Same 75 Percent Abatement, and a Term Sheet That Budgets $400 Million for Power the Project Says It Will Not Use. · Dispute, no suit filed

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.

• Armory Innovation District Data Center · St. Louis · Contour / TerraWatt (with Steadfast City, THO Investments, ARCO, Lewis Rice)10 mi · Permitted · 120 MW · In litigation
• TierPoint St. Louis - Olive · Saint Louis · TierPoint11 mi · Operating
• Netrality 210 North Tucker (St. Louis) · St. Louis · Netrality Data Centers11 mi · Operating
• Cloverleaf Troy Data Center Campus · Troy · Cloverleaf Infrastructure19 mi · Proposed · 500 MW · Mixed reception

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