This is a source-attributed discovery row. It can help you find a place and its citations; it is not a DataCenterData finding that the facility is distinct or currently operating.
Reported geography
Source-reported location for QTS Bessemer (Project Marvel).
Approximate source coordinates; this is not a parcel claim. Nearby source points are combined into one accessible target that opens this exact map scope. View these exact rows on the interactive map →
Source row snapshot
- Operator as published
- QTS Data Centers
- Address and locality
- Bessemer · Jefferson County · Alabama
- Official metro area
- Birmingham, AL
- Source-reported status
- proposed
- Provider facility type
- data center
- Reported capacity
- Planned: 1,200 MW (source-reported; boundary not independently verified; MW measure not stated by provider)
- Source freshness
- 9 September 2026
- Location precision
- approximate (provider label: exact; the provider's own note describes an approximate location)
- Compute Atlas confidence label
- reported (provider's classification; not a DataCenterData check)
- Stable directory ID
dcd-dir-001212
Reported details
Source-reported by Compute Atlas; not independently verified by DataCenterData. Provider wording is kept; long provider notes are shortened and marked …; unknown is not zero; none of these values is totaled, ranked or compared.
- Electric utility
- Alabama Power
- Power source
- Grid
- Cooling
- Closed-loop
- Land area
- 1,607 acres (source-reported; parcel boundary not established)
- Community response
- Provider label: contested
- AI-use label (provider)
- likely
- Announced
- 2025
Provider notes
Energy. Alabama Power confirmed 1,200 MW power availability for the campus. QTS committed project-related energy costs will not be passed on to local utility ratepayers. Opponents (NAACP, Black Warrior Riverkeeper, SELC) raised concerns that the facility will rely on fossil fuels. Bibb County residents identified as potentially facing higher power bills due to grid strain.
Water. QTS committed to a closed-loop cooling system that does not consume water for cooling once operational. Opposition groups including Black Warrior Riverkeeper raised concerns about water impacts during construction and operation, citing proximity to a Black Warrior River tributary. Tuscaloosa County flagged for potential irreversible water impacts.
Community. Strong and ongoing opposition. Public Facebook group 'Bessemer Data Center - We Say No!' grew to 720+ members. NAACP cited environmental justice concerns for majority-minority Bessemer community. Black Warrior Riverkeeper (BWR) and Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) opposed construction over fossil fuel and water impacts. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service raised concerns. Rezoning lawsuit filed in Jefferson County Circuit Court (temporarily enjoined; later dismissed). …
These reviews flag conflicting scope, inconsistent source text or support that has not been established. A withheld value may appear in the explanation, but is not displayed as an established field. The upstream row remains attributed under Sources.
- Announced investment: The source note says no single firm company-confirmed figure exists and treats the investment as a projected cost range excluded from the investment field.
- Announced permanent jobs: The source note says the roughly 1,000 construction and 330 permanent jobs are projections recorded in the notes, not in structured jobs fields.
- Announced construction jobs: The source note says the roughly 1,000 construction and 330 permanent jobs are projections recorded in the notes, not in structured jobs fields.
What the source record says
Codename: Project Marvel. 18-building hyperscale campus on Red Ridge near I-459 and I-20/59 interchange in Bessemer (Jefferson County). Announced capacity: up to 1,200 MW at full build-out — reported as a planned ceiling, roughly 9% of Alabama Power's current generating capacity; recorded as capacityMw.planned = 1200 (an announced 'up to' full-build-out ceiling, consistent with how the dataset records other announced full-build-out figures). Investment: reported at $14–14.5B across sources (Logistics Land Investment anticipated 'close to $14.4B'; WBRC reported $14.5B at November 2025 rezoning; DCD reported ~$14B); no single firm company-confirmed figure exists — treated as a projected cost range and excluded from investmentUsd. Land: ~1,607.42 acres total after two rezoning rounds (initial ~700 acres November 2025 + 914-acre expansion April 2026). QTS affiliate purchased land from TPA Group affiliate for $431.73M. Chapter 9B statutory eligibility would have provided a 30-year abatement estimated at $500M+; QTS committed not to seek local property tax incentives (per WBRC July 2026) — subsidy excluded as eligibility does not equal award and QTS renounced pursuit. Full buildout timeline: 7+ years. Birmingham Business Alliance estimated ~$4B net benefit over 30 years; Bessemer City Schools projected ~$25M/year. AI framing not officially confirmed by QTS or the city as of July 2026 — size and scale (hyperscale, cloud/AI demand framing in QTS statement) support 'likely' classification. Coordinates are approximate for the Red Ridge parcel area. Jobs: ~1,000 construction and ~330 permanent are projected figures for the proposed (not-yet-built) campus (WBRC, Nov 2025) — recorded as projections in notes, not structured jobs fields, per data-rigor policy. QTS Data Centers is owned by Blackstone (2021 take-private). STATUS JUDGEMENT SURFACED, NOT APPLIED: Bessemer approved land-use rezonings for this campus in November 2025 and again (914 acres) in April 2026, which under the wave's rule that a rezoning approval means permitted could argue for permitted rather than proposed. I did not change it, because the record's own cited source dated 2026-07-02 postdates both rezonings and still describes the campus as proposed, and no building permit or site-preparation start was found in any source fetched this run. A maintainer should decide whether a rezoning alone promotes this record.
Any MW value is reproduced as source-reported context. Its measurement boundary is not established consistently enough for comparison. Unknown is not zero.
Status history supplied by the source
- 2025 · source-reported proposed
Project Marvel first surfaced March 2025; unnamed developer (via Logistics Land Investment LLC, an affiliate of Atlanta-based TPA Group) sought rezoning of ~700 acres in Bessemer for hyperscale data center
- 2025 · source-reported proposed
Bessemer City Council voted 5-2 to approve rezoning ~700 acres from agricultural (A-1) to light industrial (I-1) on November 18, 2025; developer identity still not publicly disclosed
- 2026 · source-reported proposed
Bessemer City Council approved rezoning of 914 additional acres in April 2026, expanding total site to ~1,607 acres; 18-building count unchanged, additional land used for wider buffers and layout flexibility
- 2026 · source-reported proposed
QTS Data Centers (Blackstone) publicly confirmed as operator behind Project Marvel, July 1-2, 2026; project described as in active planning stage
Sources and attribution
These sources are listed for the whole row. Unless a figure links to its own source, the provider does not mark which one gave it, so a figure may not appear in every source.
- QTS confirms plans for proposed data center campus in Bessemer · WBRC Fox6
- Purported Developer of $14bn Project Marvel Data Center in Bessemer Unveiled as QTS · Construction Review Online
- Bessemer City Council approves data center project despite transparency concerns (November 2025) · WBRC Fox6
- Bessemer approves rezoning of 914 acres for Project Marvel data center · ABC 3340
- Alabama's planned $14bn Project Marvel data center could double in size · Data Center Dynamics
- QTS Data Centers behind Bessemer Project Marvel plans · ABC 3340
- How Will Project Marvel Affect Bessemer And Surrounding Areas? · Tuscaloosa Thread
- Bessemer Residents Are Speaking Out Against AI Data Center Development · Community Sentinel
Adapted from Compute Atlas by Edward Kubiak, edition 1.34.1, under CC BY 4.0. Upstream ID qts-marvel-bessemer-al. Filtered to data-center records in the 50 U.S. states; selected fields normalized for search and display; DataCenterData directory IDs added. Some locations in this layer are reported by the provider as derived from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL, https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright) and Epoch AI (CC BY 4.0).
Compute Atlas 1.34.1 with retained prior rows and publication holds. This is a DataCenterData composite, not an unmodified publisher edition. This row uses the captured source from 1.34.1, source as of 2026-10-14T20:40:52.293Z.
That does not mean the row is wrong, and it does not mean no reviewed record exists for the same place. A link is added only when an identifier or source establishes the match.
Recorded information
What this page records, grouped by topic, with the source's units and qualifications. Company-reported values stay labeled as company-reported. Related listings are shown separately.
Licensed directory listing dcd-dir-001212
Licensed directory row.
Provider notes and the source narrative are printed on this page and are not repeated here.
Identity and relationships
- Provider facility type: data center
Provider facility type.
- AI-use label (provider): likely
Compute Atlas classification, not a DataCenterData finding.
Location and precision
- Bessemer, AL · Jefferson (Approximate location)
Roles
- Operator: QTS Data Centers
Operator label as published by the provider; no parent company is inferred.
Lifecycle
- Source-stated status: source-reported proposed
Provider status label; not a DataCenterData finding that the facility is operating.
- Announced: 2025
Provider-reported announcement date.
- Status history: 2025 · source-reported proposed
Status history supplied by the source.
- Status history: 2025 · source-reported proposed
Status history supplied by the source.
- Status history: 2026 · source-reported proposed
Status history supplied by the source.
- Status history: 2026 · source-reported proposed
Status history supplied by the source.
Area, acreage and buildings
- Land area: 1,607 acres (source-reported; parcel boundary not established)
Power capacity
- Reported capacity: Planned: 1,200 MW (source-reported; boundary not independently verified; MW measure not stated by provider)
Reproduced as the page prints it; not ranked or totaled; unknown is not zero.
- Electric utility: Alabama Power
Utility as named by the provider.
- Power source: Grid
Provider label.
Cooling, water, PUE and WUE
- Cooling: Closed-loop
Provider label.
Permits, incentives, jobs and proceedings
- Community response: Provider label: contested
Compute Atlas characterization, not a DataCenterData assessment.
Sources, dates, limitations and corrections
- Provider update date: 2026-09-09
Provider update date is not a DataCenterData verification date.
Not yet recorded here: Connectivity · Services · Certifications and design ratings · Rack density · Availability · Specification links and contact.
Licensed values: adapted from Compute Atlas by Edward Kubiak under CC BY 4.0. Source-reported and not independently verified.
Update this profile with a public source. The request includes topics needing more information; this does not mean the facility lacks them. Corrections and additions are reviewed before publication.