Chandler data center project draws in former U.S. senator
Courtesy of City of Chandler
Former U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema speaks to the Chandler City Council at its Oct. 16 meeting. Sinema told council “federal pre-emption” is a possibility if it doesn’t approve plans for a large speculative AI data center that would be built in south Chandler near Intel’s Ocotillo Campus.
An application hearing for a proposed large industrial AI data center development in south Chandler led to the attendance of a former U.S. senator, who returned the following evening to threaten Chandler during a regular City Council meeting.
Former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, speaking during the Oct. 15 Chandler Planning and Zoning Commission regular meeting, said she’s founder and co-chair of what she calls the AI Infrastructure Coalition, which she says is “working hand-in-glove with the Trump Administration to ensure American AI dominance.”
Sinema also said she was at the meeting to advocate for recommendations of approval of a planned-area development in south Chandler, funded by a group called Active Infrastructure.
A 420,000-square-foot artificial-intelligence data center would be the centerpiece of a campus with five smaller buildings on a site at Price and Dobson roads near Intel, tearing down a former Northrup Grumman-owned building in the process.
“If we choose not to move forward with this development, the land will continue to sit vacant (Northrup Grumman vacated the building in 2019), until federal pre-emption occurs,” Sinema told the planning commission. “Earlier this year, the AI action plan, set out by the Trump Administration, says very clearly that we must continue to proliferate AI and AI data centers across the country.”
In a rare turn of events, Chandler’s planning staff brought the application to the commission despite encouraging the board to recommend denial the city council. Staff also put together a list of rezoning and preliminary development plan conditions to meet, should the commission decide it wants to recommend approval.
The commission ended up 5-1 to recommend council approve staff’s alternative list of conditions, making at least one modification of its own.
Chair Rick Huemann was the lone nay, saying there were various aspects of the plan that “give him heartburn.”
Sinema returned to Chandler City Hall the following night, signing up to speak during regular public input. She reiterated much of what she told the planning commission, including the federal pre-emption threat. Council will likely be asked to approve Active Infrastructure’s plan at a November meeting.
Sinema, announced by the law and lobbying firm Hogan Lovells as part of its team in March, serves as a senior adviser in the global regulatory and intellectual property practice, according to the firm.
Sinema told the planning commission that remaining on the cutting edge is what made Chandler a city of innovation decades ago.
“At least three of the occupied buildings along the Price Corridor are call centers,” Sinema said. “Those will cease to exist within five years. AI will replace call centers as we know it. I appreciate the city’s presentation. But what was missing was a fundamental lack of understanding about what AI data centers are, and the amount of companies that want to colocate near those new centers. I would urge Chandler to approach the AI revolution the way you approached the semiconductor revolution.”
The property’s listed owner is BA Price Owner LLC, with a mailing address in Connecticut.
Jeff Zygler, the founder and CEO of Active Infrastructure, spoke and took questions at the Oct. 15 commission meeting. He clarified, among other items, that city legal staff are in active negotiations for a formal infrastructure development agreement, which is separate from zoning and construction approvals.
Several residents and others, including Chandler Chamber of Commerce President Terri Kimble, advocated for the project at the commission meeting. Among those who didn’t was south Chandler resident Karla Hoffer, who said while she’s in favor of new tech expansion, large data centers are unproven in several ways.
“There’s still so much that isn’t known about the long-term effects of data centers — even the obsolete ones,” Hoffer said. “We need to know more.”
One of the emails in opposition to the project said the concern about PFAs “forever chemicals” that might already be on-site, along with such a large industrial facility coming in, gave the writer pause.
“We do not wish to be a sacrifice zone for the data center boom,” the email stated.
Jason W. Brooks News Editor | Chandler Independent
Jason W. Brooks joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in July 2021 as an associate editor. After a year covering Buckeye, he has covered Chandler since the fall of 2022, in addition to assisting the Daily Independent throughout his time at INI.
Education: University of New Mexico, bachelor of arts in journalism and mass communication, print emphasis, English minor.
Random Fact: He and his siblings witnessed a Space Shuttle launch and landing in the same year in person, on opposite coasts.
Hobbies: Karaoke, bicycling and American Sign Language.
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