Background

On the 28th of July, 2023the City of North Mankato entered into a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with Oppidan Incorporated, a company that constructs data centers.

It wasn’t until 2025, when an environmental study, an Alternative Urban Area-wide Review (AUAR) was presented for public comment by the city that citizens became aware that the city had entered into an NDA. That secret had even been kept from at least some of the council members.

The AUAR made no mention of a hyper-scale data center being planned and the report claimed that the development would be “an industrial usage or a technology center.”

Twenty-one comments were made , all negative, on the AUAR. A lawyer from the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy (MCEA) from Minneapolis came to the council meeting on the night of the vote to accept the AUAR, and asked the council not to approve as it would leave the city with no further environmental reviews should a developer decide to build anytime in the next 5 years.

Told by staff it was pro-forma, without a question to the lawyer the council voted to approve. One week later the MCEA sued the city. In may of this year the MCEA dropped the suit with the withdrawal of Oppidan from a North Mankato project.

The city explained the withdrawal of the suit on their May 15th webpost:

The Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy (MCEA) has voluntarily dismissed its lawsuit challenging the City of North Mankato’s Industrial Alternative Urban Areawide Review (AUAR).  The Minnesota Environmental Quality Board (EQB) oversees the AUAR process and approved the process utilized by the City in connection with the adoption of the North Mankato Industrial AUAR.  The City believes the voluntary dismissal vindicates the AUAR process the City followed.

An AUAR process is commonly used when landowners, developers, or industry representatives are exploring potential land options. The North Mankato Industrial AUAR was initiated and funded by Project Deacon, LLC and prepared by the consulting firm Kimley-Horn to study a future general industrial land area and better understand what types and sizes of future business development could be supported. 

The North Mankato Industrial AUAR evaluated possible land uses and environmental impacts for property being considered for two scenarios: a technology park or office/warehouse space.  Since the study area is currently privately owned in Belgrade Township, and North Mankato was the closest municipality, the City’s role became the Responsible Government Unit (RGU) to oversee the process and provide the information required as part of the review. It is important to understand that an AUAR is only a study. It does not approve a specific project and does not mean anything is planned or moving forward. If a future project exceeds the assumptions in the AUAR, additional environmental would be required.

There has been community speculation about a potential data center as the AUAR received broader attention. No proposal, plan, or application for a data center was ever submitted to the City, and there is no data center project currently planned.

Through Kimley-Horn, the City followed the standard AUAR process to evaluate land use and environmental impacts as required and follows all applicable city, state and federal statutes. 

There is no active development proposal for the area at this time. If a project is proposed in the future, it would go through the City’s standard public review process, including City Council consideration. North Mankato continues to be open to new business and industry that may be looking to locate to the community. 

Note the city says “no data center is currently planned” (emphasis ours.) It has not ruled out a future possibility with a different developer. We fear the city would prefer the tax revenue from such a development over guarding against the devastating environmental and economic issues data centers bring to small communities.

It is true that no plan or application was ever submitted for a data center, but that does not mean that one was not in discussion. We ask: Why else would the city have entered into an NDA three years ago with Oppidan, a firm known for building data centers.

Oppidan is completing the Eagan data center this spring 2026. If dedicated citizens had not come forward, North Mankato might have been breaking data center ground this year.