SHALERSVILLE, Ohio — Forty minutes before the meeting started, the Shalersville Town Hall was at capacity for Bitdeer’s pitch to township trustees to put a data center campus in a business park next to the Ohio Turnpike.
Rows of people lined the open windows outside to listen in and learn what Bitdeer’s plans would look like for 257 acres at the Turnpike Commerce Center in Shalersville Township.
The publicly traded company, based in Singapore, aims to fill much of that site with a 15-building computing hub to meet growing demand for artificial intelligence.
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The company is partnering with Streetsboro-based Geis Development, part of a family-owned real estate and construction business, on what is expected to be Bitdeer's largest facility in the U.S.
The meeting, spanning 3.5 hours, consisted of an hour-long presentation from Bitdeer and Geis, followed by questions from the audience and from township trustees.
Much of the discussion centered on issues such as energy consumption, water usage, noise and other environmental impacts.
The first phase of the project would span two data halls and a 51,500-square-foot office building at the southwestern end of the property.
A site plan shows 12 additional data halls in the second phase of the project, with a total capacity of 750 megawatts of power when completed. The power will be used to help fuel artificial intelligence.
The plan in Portage County calls for 400 local construction jobs over a five-year period, as well as between 150 and 200 local jobs at Bitdeer when the project is fully built out.
Bitdeer said it would generate $2.17 million in real estate tax revenue annually when Phase 1 is complete. The company added that would mean a 35% tax revenue increase for Crestwood Local Schools, a 115% increase for Shalersville Township, and a 39% increase for the joint fire department.
Bitdeer currently operates a 26-building cryptocurrency mining facility in Massillon on 31 acres, which company representatives referenced repeatedly during the meeting as a sign of success. However, the Shalersville project would involve 257 acres.
Paul Hanson, Bitdeer's senior project manager, told the crowd why the company sought out this specific location.
"The size of the land, an industrial location that's close to a very good transportation hub, and the availability for long-term power — that's what made this property very attractive to us," Hanson said.
At times, the meeting got heated, as many called for Bitdeer to abandon its plans or for township trustees to deny the proposal.
"This is America," said one woman. "We’re about to celebrate 250 years. What does that mean if we can’t say no?"
At one point, a room full of hands went up as one local asked for those against the data center to raise their hands.
Jim Tighe and his wife sat in the front row for the entire meeting. They live about a mile from the proposed site.
"There's obviously a lot of anger in the community about it," Tighe said. "There's a general uncomfortable feeling about AI, and this is what it's going to do. There's just a lot of unknown about it."
Last month, Bitdeer hosted hundreds inside a nearby warehouse for a community informational meeting.
Watch that story here:
RELATED: Data center project team hosts Portage Co. neighbors to discuss 257-acre development
A Shalersville Township trustee reiterated to News 5 that no decisions have been made yet, and none are expected to be made for several months, closer to when a moratorium on data centers in the area is set to expire in November.
Clay LePard is the Ashtabula, Geauga and Portage counties reporter at News 5 Cleveland. Follow him on X @ClayLePard, on Facebook ClayLePardTV or email him at Clay.LePard@wews.com.
