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The Van Wert Data Center: The Facts
QTS Data Center Campus — Van Wert, Ohio — Announced May 29, 2026
What Was Announced
• Company: QTS Data Centers — headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas. A portfolio company of Blackstone, one of the world’s largest private equity firms, headquartered in New York City.
• $10 billion in capital investment at the Van Wert Mega Site — a 902-acre property bordered by U.S. Route 30, U.S. Route 224, Mendon Road, and the Hoagland Township line.
• Up to seven data center buildings on 902 acres of Van Wert County farmland — land that had been used for corn, soybeans, popcorn, and wheat production. Van Wert County has 220,000 acres in agricultural production.
• Groundbreaking: Q4 2026. Fully operational: 2032. The campus does not yet exist. Not a single server has been installed.
• The deal was quietly negotiated for more than two years before the public announcement.
The Jobs Promise
• 1,500+ construction jobs during the 5-6 year building phase. These are temporary.
• 200 full-time permanent positions once operational. These are primarily maintenance and operations roles — monitoring servers, maintaining cooling systems, and managing facilities.
• A University of Pennsylvania professor confirmed to NPR that “most data centers employ about 100 to 200 people.” This is consistent with QTS’s own projection.
• Ohio’s food and agriculture industry supports 837,000 jobs and contributes $100 billion to Ohio’s economy annually. One out of every seven Ohio workers works in food and agriculture.
The Math
• QTS projects $200 million in tax revenue for Ohio — over 20 years. That is $10 million per year.
• Ohio gave data centers $1.5 billion in tax breaks in 2025 alone — 12 times more than the state projected. That is $10 million every 2.4 days.
• Ohio would need 150 campuses this size just to break even on last year’s tax breaks in tax revenue over 20 years.
• Cost per job over 20 years: between $10 million and $50 million per person who ever works there, depending on turnover assumptions.
• The company is headquartered in Kansas. Owned by a New York private equity firm. Profits leave Ohio.
The Timing
• On Wednesday, May 27, 2026, Governor DeWine paused new data center tax exemption requests while the Ohio General Assembly’s Joint Data Center Committee studied the issue. DeWine stressed he fully supports data centers.
• On Friday, May 29, 2026 — two days later — the Van Wert QTS campus was publicly announced.
• The deal had been in negotiation for over two years. The pause did not stop it.
The Broader Context
• Ohio has given data centers $2.5 billion in tax breaks since 2017. The tax break cost $1.6 billion in 2025 alone — 12 times the projected amount.
• Ohio’s average residential electricity bill jumped 23.3% in one year — the third-largest increase in the country — driven primarily by data center demand. The average Ohio family could pay $70 more per month by 2028.
• Only 11,791 Ohioans work in data centers statewide — across all 200+ facilities.
• A Gallup survey from March 2026 found 71% of Americans oppose data centers near their homes — higher opposition than the Iraq War, ICE operations, or the Affordable Care Act.
• Ohioans are collecting signatures for a November 2026 ballot initiative to ban hyperscale data centers statewide. Deadline: July 1, 2026. Visit conserveohio.com to sign.
Their cloud is our cornfields.
Ohio is not your server farm.
Read sourced facts about data centers at ohioeyesopen.com and decide for yourself.
Ohio First. Ohio Eyes Open. 👁️
Key Sources
• Lima Ohio — Van Wert Data Center Details
• WTOL — QTS Van Wert Campus Announcement
• WOSU — DeWine Freezes Data Center Tax Break
• Policy Matters Ohio — Data Center Tax Breaks
• Van Wert County OSU Extension — Agriculture Facts
• Gigafact — Data Center Jobs Research
Who Is Really Behind the Van Wert Data Center?
Our cornfields are their cloud. 🌽
QTS Data Centers — Blackstone — Van Wert, Ohio
Who Is Blackstone?
• Blackstone is the largest alternative asset manager in the world with $881 billion in assets under management — nearly nine times Ohio’s entire state budget.
• Blackstone is headquartered in New York City. QTS Data Centers is headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas. Neither company is based in Ohio.
• Blackstone acquired QTS in 2021 for $10 billion — the largest data center acquisition in history at the time. Since then, QTS’s development pipeline has grown from $1 billion to $25 billion, and the company is now valued at roughly $60 billion.
• Blackstone’s own 2026 Investment Perspectives document states that “infrastructure and power remain the primary constraints” on AI data center growth. Ohio’s land, water, and electricity are those constraints. Ohio is the resource.
What Else Does Blackstone Own?
Blackstone is not a tech company. It is a private equity firm that owns infrastructure assets across every part of American life and extracts returns for its investors. Its portfolio includes:
• Your hotel room: Blackstone bought Hilton Hotels in a $26 billion deal and sold it for a $14 billion profit — one of the most lucrative private equity deals in history. Brands included Hilton, DoubleTree, Embassy Suites, Hampton Inn, and the Waldorf Astoria.
• Your rental home: Blackstone’s Real Estate Income Trust owns at least 274,859 rental housing units across the United States and is actively buying more. They also acquired Apartment Income REIT for $10 billion, adding 76 more rental communities.
• Your warehouse: Logistics and industrial real estate accounts for 40% of Blackstone’s real estate portfolio. They are one of the largest warehouse owners in the world.
• Your data: Warehouses, rental housing, and data centers now compose 90% of all Blackstone real estate investments. QTS is their flagship data center platform.
The Van Wert Deal — The Facts
• QTS announced a $10 billion hyperscale campus in Van Wert, Ohio on May 29, 2026 — two days after Governor DeWine paused new data center tax exemption requests.
• The deal had been quietly negotiated for more than two years before the public announcement.
• The campus will occupy 902 acres of Van Wert County farmland — land where corn, soybeans, popcorn, and wheat currently grow. Van Wert County has 220,000 acres in agricultural production.
• Groundbreaking: Q4 2026. Fully operational: 2032. Not a single server has been installed. This is a rendering and a press release.
• 200 permanent jobs once operational — primarily maintenance and operations roles monitoring servers and maintaining cooling systems.
The Math
• QTS projects $200 million in tax revenue for Ohio over 20 years. That is $10 million per year.
• Ohio gave data centers $1.5 billion in tax breaks in 2025 alone — 12 times more than projected. That is $10 million every 2.4 days.
• Ohio would need 150 Van Wert campuses just to break even on last year’s tax breaks in projected tax revenue over 20 years.
• Cost per job: between $10 million and $50 million per person who ever works there over 20 years.
• The $10 billion investment flows to a Kansas company owned by a New York private equity firm. Profits leave Ohio.
The Broader Picture
• Blackstone’s own investment thesis explicitly identifies Ohio’s land, power, and water as the “primary constraints” on their growth. They are not investing in Ohio’s future. They are investing in Ohio’s resources.
• Ohio’s food and agriculture industry supports 837,000 jobs and contributes $100 billion annually to Ohio’s economy. One in seven Ohio workers works in food and agriculture.
• A Gallup survey from March 2026 found 71% of Americans oppose data centers near their homes — higher than opposition to the Iraq War, ICE operations, or the Affordable Care Act.
• Ohioans are collecting signatures for a November 2026 ballot initiative to ban hyperscale data centers statewide. Deadline: July 1, 2026. Visit conserveohio.com to sign a physical petition.
Ohio is not your server farm. 🌽👁️
Read sourced facts at ohioeyesopen.com and decide for yourself.
Ohio First. Ohio Eyes Open. 👁️
Key Sources
• Blackstone 2026 Investment Perspectives
• Data Center Knowledge — Blackstone Acquires QTS for $10B
• Bisnow — QTS Now a $60B Data Center Firm
• CNBC — Blackstone Buying Rental Homes
• Lima Ohio — Van Wert Data Center Details
• WOSU — DeWine Freezes Data Center Tax Break
• Policy Matters Ohio — Data Center Tax Breaks
• Tom’s Hardware — 71% of Americans Oppose Data Centers
• Conserve Ohio — Sign the Petition
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