Developer explores data center options in Gregg Township

Gregg Township’s planning commission held a work session on May 6 to work on a data center ordinance as PNK Group advanced a phased campus concept at 198 Enterprise Boulevard in Allenwood. The township also posted that the PNK Landowner Curative Amendment hearing was rescheduled for June 1 at 6 p.m. at Allenwood Social Hall, putting the proposal into the formal land-use process in a township founded in 1865 and covering 15.1 square miles.

PNK Group describes the project as “A Proposed Data Center Campus for Allenwood, PA,” starting with reuse of an existing industrial building and expanding over time as infrastructure and approvals progress. The concept could grow to as many as four data centers in a business park along Route 15 in Union County, turning what begins as one reused structure into a much larger campus footprint in a rural part of Gregg Township.

That scale matters because a data center is not just another warehouse tenant. These facilities can draw heavy electrical loads, rely on backup power and cooling systems, and change how nearby land is used and valued. PNK has said it has heard residents’ concerns and is taking them seriously, including worries about power and noise. For neighbors near Allenwood, the central questions are practical: how much land the campus will occupy, what it will look and sound like, and how much control township officials keep over the final layout.

Power is already a local issue. PPL has proposed about nine miles of new 230,000-volt transmission lines across Lycoming and Union counties to meet “growing energy needs” and support “new customer facilities,” and the preferred route could cut across preserved farmland. That makes the Gregg Township debate more than a zoning dispute. It ties a proposed technology campus to utility infrastructure, farmland preservation and the long-term character of a community that still has only a three-member Board of Supervisors to steer those decisions.

State officials have begun giving municipalities more help in handling the surge of interest. The Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development released a Data Center Toolkit in May 2026 for towns facing inquiries and proposals, reflecting the fiscal and planning questions these projects raise for local governments. In Union County, the issue has already spread beyond Gregg Township: a planned project at Great Stream Commons tied to Data Centric LLC was described as canceled after a 37-acre plot and a $2.7 million purchase agreement surfaced. For Gregg Township, the next steps will show whether the township wants to use zoning and ordinance language to shape a development that could alter power demand, road use and the future edge of Allenwood.