Google appears to be the company behind the proposed data center that prompted protests and a one-year data center ban in St. Charles last month.
St. Louis Public Radio found at least seven limited liability corporations registered in four states that were involved in the early stages of various Google data center projects and with at least one of the same two registered officers, one of whom is named in St. Charles city documents.
Google did not respond to a request for comment.
The paper trail
St. Charles officials signed nondisclosure agreements with Spark Innovations, according to records obtained through Missouri’s Sunshine Law. That LLC has ties to Google.
The St. Charles NDAs list Michael Montfort as the manager of Spark Innovations.
In West Memphis, Arkansas, Spark Innovations is listed as the company behind a data center facility on a city council resolution adopted in July 2024. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported Friday that Google confirmed it is the company behind that data center project.
The planned 500-acre data center campus project also listed Groot in an application for a permit under the Clean Water Act with the Army Corps of Engineers. In Arkansas, both Spark Innovations and Groot have the same two officers: Michael J. Montfort and David Thomas.
In Indianapolis, another LLC registered by Montfort, Deep Meadow Ventures, submitted a rezoning application to build a data center that has been debated this summer. Records obtained by WFYI revealed Google was behind the project.
In Missouri, AG Rose Solutions is the affiliate company behind a Google data center under construction in Kansas City. The company registered with the Missouri secretary of state’s office, and a David Thomas signed the filing.
And in Virginia, Google announced it is building a data center on land owned by Peanut, which is registered to Thomas. Local media reported two other sites will also be Google data centers and both are owned by LLCs registered to Montfort.
A secretive project
The St. Charles project was a proposed $1 billion data center with up to five buildings on a 440-acre lot off Highway 370.
After public backlash, the construction company building the data center, Clayco’s data center development arm CRG, pulled its permit application last month but said it would come back with a revised proposal.
“In the coming months, the Cumulus team will continue to work closely with City officials and the public to develop a proposal that reflects shared priorities and delivers long-term value to the community,” wrote Christopher McKee, president of CRG, in the email withdrawing the application.
Many St. Charles residents spoke against the project at public meetings this summer, saying they were concerned about the potential environmental impact of the site and were unhappy with the secrecy around the data center.
A lawyer for the unnamed company behind the data center said in August that it was a Fortune 100 hyperscaler data center company but would not name it, saying these projects are often confidential until they are announced.
“It's really done because of the competitive landscape that is the data center world,” said Korb Maxwell, a lawyer for the end user in August. “Right now, we're in one of the most hypercompetitive landscapes that America has ever seen in this industry.”
St. Charles Director of Economic Development Mike Klinghammer and Director of the Engineering Department Daniel Mann both signed NDAs with Spark Innovations agreeing that they would not disclose confidential information related to the agreement.
In August, the St. Charles City Council unanimously passed a one-year moratorium on new data center applications.
