ABOUT
Cannon Falls Technology Park
Cannon Falls Technology Park will be a master-planned data center campus. Data centers are the critical infrastructure of our modern world, powering the internet and providing us with a digital foundation. Led by a team of technology and development experts at Tract, the campus will be thoughtfully designed and planned to maximize economic benefits for the community with minimal impact.
The Facts
Cannon Falls Technology Park is a master-planned data center campus being planned to maximize economic benefits for the community with minimal impacts. Since 2003, the Cannon Falls Land Use Plan has designated this property as Industrial land and has identified this property as a “Future Expansion Area.” The City of Cannon Falls has planned for this property to be annexed into the City and to be developed with some type of Industrial use for the last two decades. There are many types of industrial uses that could be developed here that would create significantly more disruption—such as increased traffic, noise, or pollution—while generating less tax revenue than a data center campus.
The use of water and the amount needed for data centers varies based on many different factors, including the type of cooling equipment, the layout & density of the facility, water quality of the incoming water, and the operational requirements of the data center. Proper cooling is essential for data center operations to prevent overheating, ensure equipment reliability, and maintain optimal performance for the IT hardware. Generally, there are two primary ways to cool data centers: by air (using less water and more power) or by water-based cooling (using less power and more water) solutions, or a combination.
As experts in data center infrastructure, Tract has decades of experience in determining the water needs necessary to serve a data center campus. We work closely with municipalities to ensure adequate capacity exists in the City’s system and that future growth within the City (outside of the proposed development) is also considered.
The estimated water usage for this project is consistent with the existing irrigation well appropriations for this property (although the development will be served by public water and not by well water). As part of the application process, municipal water and sewer systems that will serve the project, are being studied. The objective is to ensure service to existing customers is not impacted by this project.
Wastewater will be treated or attenuated onsite or will be directed to the City’s municipal treatment facilities through new infrastructure paid for and installed by the developer, ensuring proper handling in compliance with environmental standards.
The existing onsite well has a water appropriations permit for 40.3 million gallons per year (MGY), and has been pumping between 13 and 23 MGY from the aquifer over the last five years for agricultural uses. While the exact water usage will depend on the end-user and their specific infrastructure, sustainability goals, and operational requirements, it is estimated that the maximum water use for a data center campus using a water-cooled system could be within the existing appropriations. Tract is working closely with the City of Cannon Falls to study the current water and wastewater capacity and infrastructure. Water and wastewater lines will be extended to the site so that the campus can connect to the municipal systems. This infrastructure extension will be paid for as part of the development
Tract is engaged with Dakota Electric Association and is proceeding with the service application and engineering studies.
A new substation will be constructed on site to serve the power needs of the technology park. This and other infrastructure improvements will be funded and constructed by the developer and costs will not be passed on to customers.
These infrastructure improvements are designed to ensure stable, uninterrupted service for both new tenants and existing residents.
The sound emitted from data centers is similar to other commercial uses and is mostly from HVAC equipment. With the site’s proximity to Highway 52, the existing sound from the highway will be greater than the sound generated from the data center.
This site is being specifically designed to keep buildings and equipment distanced from the property line by at least 150 feet and further distanced from any homes.
A provision of the PUD will require a noise study be provided prior to the issuance of a building permit to ensure that proper sound attenuation measures to ensure noise compliance are implemented.
As part of the rezoning and PUD process, the project will be required to meet all local lighting regulations and requirements, including shielding, intensity, height, glare, etc. Generally, data centers include site lighting in parking lots and interior roads, security lighting around the site for safety purposes and temporary construction lights. All of these will be addressed during the rezoning and PUD process and future site plan applications to ensure consistency with Cannon Falls lighting regulations.
At full build out, the data center campus will generate minimal traffic, especially when compared to the other light industrial uses that are contemplated for the property.
Construction traffic for this site will be comparable to other construction sites of this scale. Construction trucks and personnel will enter and exit the property along County Road 29 Blvd. or Rochester Boulevard, which are the designated site entrances. Construction traffic will also follow approved haul routes, as determined in the Site Safety Plan.
A traffic impact analysis was completed in December 2024. Specific roadway improvements will be considered as part of the rezoning and PUD process. As part of this project, the developer will likely install turn lanes off Rochester Blvd/County 29 Blvd at site access points to provide additional safety and mitigate impacts to the existing roadway, ensuring that residents and workers can travel safely and efficiently.
An open house was held on April 29, 2025 to gather initial community feedback and provide information on the project. This project will need to go through Cannon Fall’s development review process for the rezoning and PUD application, as well as preliminary and final plat.
Future meetings and public hearings will be held with the Planning Commission and City Council as required by the City Cannon Falls and the public will have opportunities to comment during those public hearings. Tract representatives are available to answer questions and provide additional project information:
info@CannonFallsTechnologyPark.com
507-298-2964
Why Cannon Falls?
The Midwest is a rapidly growing area of our country with increasing online digital needs. Additional data centers are necessary to keep up with demand. The proposed Cannon Falls Technology Park is an ideal site for a vital data center as it is both located in Minnesota and near Dakota Electric transmission lines capable of serving a high-tech facility.
Many types of industrial uses could be developed at the proposed site that would create significantly more disruption—such as increased traffic, noise, or pollution—while generating less tax revenue than a data center campus.
COMMUNITY BENEFITS
JOBS
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Numerous skilled labor jobs from almost all trades.
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250+ well-paying jobs with an average salary of $100,000.
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Some jobs only require a high school diploma or associate’s degree, providing a great opportunity for career growth.
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1 direct data center job can generate 6+ indirect jobs that support the local economy.
TAX REVENUE
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Significant tax dollars for Cannon Falls, Goodhue County, Dakota County, and the local school district over a 20-year period.
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Local communities could use this money to support a wide variety of needs such as education, emergency services, infrastructure, and more.
DO DATA CENTERS MAKE GOOD NEIGHBORS?
YES! Modern data centers are good neighbors, with limited traffic, wide buffers to blend into the community, and advanced technology minimizing their presence in the community.
DATA CENTERS
in Our Daily Lives
Data centers are secure, high-capacity facilities that house the computing systems needed to power modern digital life. Much like roads, utilities, and telecommunications, data centers are critical infrastructure that support the core functions of society and ensure the reliability of the services we use daily. They are essential to critical industries such as health care, emergency services, banking and finance, education, government services, and transportation. Whether it's cloud storage, online shopping, telehealth appointments, video calls, or GPS navigation, data centers ensure these digital tools operate smoothly, securely, and reliably.
Each time you pick up your phone to search the internet, text family and friends, or use social media, you are using a data center. The Cannon Falls Technology Park will play a vital role in supporting the digital needs of the Midwest.
WHO IS TRACT?
Tract builds and operates data centers. Tract’s approach is to develop master-planned data center parks in known high-demand regions. Tract leases space to tech companies, cloud providers, and other enterprise customers.
Tract is a long-term development partner committed to delivering on our plans with responsibility and follow-through.
Tract is responding to strong, well-documented demand driven by growing digital infrastructure needs across the country. Tract is making strategic investments in regions where demand already exists. Our role is to deliver the infrastructure to support that demand—not to create it. We are investing billions of dollars in infrastructure because the demand already exists– we do not create the demand.
Tract’s leadership team includes professionals with decades of experience in developing, designing, and delivering large-scale data center campuses. Collectively, the Tract team has engineered, designed, constructed, and operated over 400 data centers globally for companies including AWS, Google, Microsoft, Meta, and Oracle. Tract currently has eight active data center campuses under construction in four states: Virginia, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona.