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Contested

Salem 3 Data Center Campus (4-3 Glen Brook Group)

Salem Township, Luzerne County

The group behind the QTS land deal wants Salem Township to expand its data center overlay for a 39-building campus with its own power plant and 3.5 to 4 gigawatts of demand. The planning commission has recommended it, and supervisors have the final say.

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At a glance

The project by the numbers

StatusUnder Review
Capacity4000 MW
Site4000 acres
First announced2026-06-13

4-3 Group lines up 200 landowners for a 4,000-acre third data center campus in Salem Township

The number that mattersFormer state Rep. Mike Cabell confirmed to The Center Square that property owners have agreed to options that could lead to sales 'for $250,000 an acre and an additional $1 million for the house.'
Developer
4-3 Glen Brook Group LLC (also reported as Glennbrook or Glenbrook), affiliated with 4-3 Consulting LLC. Its team includes founder Jack Sordoni, Dave Scoblick, former state Rep. Mike Cabell, Will Whitesell, Tony Mattick and Ryan DeBellis. 4-3 says it has an end buyer whose name is covered by a nondisclosure agreement until zoning is approved and the sale closes.
Tenant
No buyer or tenant named. Sordoni says the buyer's identity is under a nondisclosure agreement until zoning is approved and the deal closes.
Current stage
Zoning stage. 4-3 filed its request to amend Salem Township's data center overlay district in June 2026. After a Sunshine Act ruling voided the July 23 recommendation and a court order set aside the Aug. 27 vote, the Salem Township Planning Commission recommended the amendment again on Sept. 24, 2026, with a 1,500-foot setback and 65-foot height limit, according to FOX56. The Board of Supervisors still has to vote. DEP lists the project as proposed with no permit applications as of October 22, 2026.
Decision body
Salem Township Board of Supervisors (final vote on the overlay amendment), on recommendation of the Salem Township Planning Commission; later, Pennsylvania DEP and federal air permits for the data centers and on-site power plant
Top issues
Rezoning more than 4,000 acres; buyout prices and neighbors left out of the deal; an on-site power plant and 3.5 to 4 gigawatts of demand; nondisclosure agreements and an unnamed buyer; open meetings and limits on public comment; setbacks and building height; the combined size of three campuses in one township
Key opponents
Food & Water Watch (senior organizer Ginny Marcille-Kerslake); State Rep. Jamie Walsh, R-Ross Township, who has questioned the transparency of the Salem Township land deals. Eight area residents, acting as individuals without a lawyer, won a Sunshine Act ruling against the planning commission.
Key supporters
4-3 Group and most of the roughly 200 participating landowners, many of whom wore green 'OVERLAY AMENDMENT YES!' shirts to the Sept. 24 meeting; the Salem Township Planning Commission, which has voted three times to recommend the overlay.

How we got here

4-3 began approaching Salem Township residents with purchase offers in January 2026, after a group of landowners asked for help in the final weeks of the QTS deal. In an announcement reported June 13, 2026, 4-3 unveiled the project, then valued at more than $1.2 billion with 194 landowners, and said it would apply to amend the data center overlay district; Cabell told The Center Square the application was filed the week before June 23. The planning commission voted 2-1 on July 23 to recommend the overlay amendment. On Aug. 25, Luzerne County Judge Lesa Gelb ruled that the commission's July meeting violated the Sunshine Act because members of the public were locked out, and ordered a new hearing. Supervisors held a work session at Berwick Assembly of God on Aug. 26, and the next day the same residents filed a motion over how that meeting was posted and a proposed limit on public comment. Also on Aug. 27 the planning commission voted 4-0-1 to recommend the overlay again, with one member abstaining because she's a landowner in the project, but the township later treated that meeting as invalid because the judge's written order stayed action on the overlay. The commission voted a third time on Sept. 24 and recommended the amendment with a 1,500-foot setback and a 65-foot height limit.

What is at stake

Impacts raised and open questions

Property values

High

Owners in the deal have options to sell at $250,000 an acre plus $1 million per house, according to former state Rep. Mike Cabell.

The Center Square

Property values

High

Residents left out of the land deal told 28/22 News they fear they'll be the only ones left in town, stuck choosing between a poor offer and staying next to the development.

28/22 News (WBRE/WYOU)

Energy costs and the grid

High

4-3 Group says the campus could draw roughly 3.5 to 4 gigawatts and would include a power plant built on site at the developers' expense.

Times Leader

Environmental justice and site legacy

High

The Center Square reported that the three Salem Township campuses together would cover about 7,000 acres, more than a third of the township's land.

Just the News (The Center Square)

Air quality

Medium

4-3 Group acknowledges the on-site generation plant would need EPA and DEP air approvals and emissions compliance; no generation plan has been filed.

Times Leader

Visual and light

Medium

The planning commission's Sept. 24 recommendation sets a 1,500-foot setback between data centers and other properties and a 65-foot building height limit.

FOX56 (WOLF)
Community response

Who is organizing against it

Food & Water Watch

National advocacy nonprofit organizing against data center development in Northeastern Pennsylvania

Leaders: Ginny Marcille-Kerslake, senior organizer

Tactics: Model ordinances, testimony, support for residents fighting local proposals

Spoke to The Center Square about the overall scale of Salem Township development after the Sunshine Act ruling.

Website

Timeline

How it has unfolded

  • 2026-06-134-3 announces a $1.2 billion land deal covering more than 4,000 acres and 194 landowners, and says it will seek an amendment to the township's data center overlay district. Times Leader
  • 2026-07-23The planning commission votes 2-1 to recommend the overlay amendment at a meeting where some members of the public were locked out. The Center Square, via Your Wyoming Link
  • 2026-08-25Judge Lesa Gelb rules the planning commission's July meeting violated the Sunshine Act and orders a new hearing. Times Leader
  • 2026-08-26Supervisors hold a work session at Berwick Assembly of God, including a proposed resolution limiting public comment to residents and taxpayers. Times Leader
  • 2026-08-27Eight residents file a motion seeking an injunction over the posting of the Aug. 26 supervisors' meeting and the proposed limit on public comment. Times Leader
  • 2026-08-27The planning commission votes 4-0-1 to recommend the overlay amendment again; the township later treats the meeting as invalid under the judge's written order. Times Leader
  • 2026-09-24In a third vote at Berwick Assembly of God, the commission recommends the overlay amendment with a 1,500-foot setback and 65-foot height limit. FOX56 (WOLF)
Legal record

Filings and legal actions

  • 2026-08
    Sunshine Act complaint (filed without a lawyer) Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas (Judge Lesa S. Gelb) · n/a

    The complaint alleged that people were locked out of, or turned away from, the July planning commission meeting on the data center overlay amendment.

    Eight residents of Salem Township and nearby communities v. Salem Township Planning Commission · Ruled for the plaintiffs on Aug. 25, 2026; the court ordered the planning commission to hold a new hearing, and a written order dated Aug. 25 stayed the panel's action on the overlay
  • 2026-08-27
    Motion for injunction and temporary restraining order (filed without a lawyer) Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas · n/a

    Alleges the Aug. 26 supervisors' work session notice didn't give the meeting's street address and the agenda wasn't posted, and seeks to block a resolution limiting public comment to township residents and taxpayers.

    The same eight residents v. Salem Township Board of Supervisors · Outcome not reported. The plaintiffs said the judge denied a separate request to stop the Aug. 27 planning commission meeting.
News

Coverage of this project

Sources

Know your rights

In Pennsylvania, the local zoning ordinance sets the route. A conditional use is decided by the elected governing body (supervisors, commissioners or council). A special exception or variance, and an appeal of a zoning officer’s decision, go to the Zoning Hearing Board. Each is a public hearing on a record: affected neighbors can ask for party status, cross-examine witnesses, and appeal. Municipalities can also adopt data center ordinances with enforceable standards.

Know your rights →

Take action

Organized community opposition is the single most effective check on these projects in Pennsylvania. Show up to hearings, submit comment when it is taken, support legal and expert-witness costs, and press your municipality for a real ordinance. Pennsylvania municipalities cannot simply freeze applications, but a curative amendment under the Planning Code gives them a defined window to fix a defective ordinance.

How communities push back →