Here’s the Likely Timeline for the Data Center Proposal
The North Loop Neighborhood Association (NLNA) has received clarity from the City on the rules, timing and process for the proposed data center.
Application Filed
Legacy Investing has filed an application for a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) with the City’s Community Planning and Economic Development Department (CPED). That application is not yet “complete,” which is not unusual at this stage. Once staff from CPED mark the application “complete,” it goes to the City Planning Commission. Use the link to sign up for notifications about their agendas, but if you live within 350 feet of the site, the City is required to notify you by mail and a public notice will also appear here.
Probable Timeline
Sept. 23: NLNA P+Z meeting: CPED says it’s confident we’ll have a complete or near-complete application in time for this meeting. In that case, P+Z would invite the developer to present the application, but the developer is not obligated to do so. The City only requires that developers “notify the neighborhood,” which Legacy did in an August 11 e-mail. This e-mail triggered P+Z’s invitation to present at its August 19 meeting.
Sept. 30: NLNA Board of Directors meeting: The board will discuss and vote to approve, reject or amend P+Z’s action from Sept. 23. This vote would be forwarded to CPED and the City Planning Commission.
Oct. 13 or 26: City Planning Commission meetings: The data center would likely be on the agenda of one of these meetings, where the NLNA vote would be included as part of CPED’s recommendation on approving or denying the data center. (Note, the Planning Commission also has a 9/28 meeting, but it’s highly unlikely the data center project would be ready for their agenda by then. If that changes, the NLNA will be ready to testify at the meeting.)
For more information on how public hearings work and how to participate, CPED provided this Public Hearing Guide. Once the Planning Commission votes on the proposal, it goes to the City Council.
This Data Center Proposal Will Be Decided on Current Rules
Legacy Investing’s proposal is separate from the City’s current efforts to update the rules governing data centers. Those updated regulations are scheduled to go into effect the third week of November. As long as Legacy’s application is deemed “complete” by then, they fall under the current rules, not the updated ones. The project itself doesn’t have to be approved before new rules take effect; their application only has to marked “complete.”
This means Legacy Investing’s proposal for the Star Tribune building falls under current City requirements for “communication exchanges,” which only require the CUP. If you want to see what Legacy’s application for the Sleep Number building’s data center CUP looked like in December 2025, here’s a link. To watch the City Planning Commission meeting where the Sleep Number building’s CUP was approved, go to the City’s YouTube channel here, (starting at about the 4:00 mark).
Making Your Voice Heard
Thank you to everyone who participated in our community meetings last week. Here’s how to continue to voice your opinion:
- To submit comments about the proposed updates to data center regulation in the City of Minneapolis, go here.
- To submit written comments for the record about the North Loop data center proposal, e-mail Principal City Planner Andrew Frenz at andrew.frenz@minneapolismn.gov.
- Mark your calendars for the Sept. 23 NLNA P+Z meeting, and the Sept. 30 NLNA Board of Directors meeting.
— By Mary Binkley, NLNA President