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Stowe Township (Pressed Steel Car)

Stowe Township, Allegheny County

Stowe Township commissioners added data centers as a permitted use in the township's general industrial district in December 2025 after SunCap Property Group, owner of the 72-acre former Pressed Steel Car Company site on Nichol Avenue, asked for the change, though SunCap and township officials now say no data center is planned there.

SpeculativeTBD/UndisclosedBrownfieldSW
At a glance

The project by the numbers

StatusSpeculative / Exploratory
Site72 acres
First announced2025-10-14
Target onlineTBD

Stowe opened its industrial zone to data centers, but the site's owner and township officials say none is planned

The number that mattersThe zoning change that opened Stowe's industrial district to data centers came at the request of the site's owner, which now says it has never planned one there.
Developer
SunCap Property Group, a Charlotte-based commercial real estate developer, whose affiliated limited liability company bought the 72-acre former Pressed Steel Car Company McKees Rocks Works site in 2023. Matt Virgin, identified as executive vice president by Public Source and as chief business officer in the township's October 2025 minutes, and development director Brian Dunn have spoken for the company, and attorney Adam Ventura represented SunCap before the commissioners. In October 2025 the state awarded a $6 million PA SITES grant to Nichol Avenue McKees Rocks LLC to prepare the same site as a distribution and logistics park.
Tenant
There's no data center project and no tenant. SunCap told Public Source in July 2026 that it's clearing and grading the site for one to three industrial buildings and that no data center has ever been planned there.
Current stage
No application has been filed. Commissioners approved a zoning amendment in December 2025 that allows data centers in the general industrial district, which covers nearly all of the township's industrial land between Nichol Avenue, the McKees Rocks Bridge and the Ohio River, and also changed that district's maximum building height. At the Aug. 11, 2026 commissioners meeting, the township solicitor said there is no data center proposal before the board. The commissioners' October 6, 2026 agenda listed industrial park zoning as an information item, and the outcome of that discussion hasn't been published.
Decision body
Stowe Township Board of Commissioners, which adopted the zoning amendment and would act on any land development application. Any state environmental permits would come from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
Top issues
Whether a data center is coming at all, how the township shares information with residents, power use and utility bills, pollution, building heights in the industrial district, and the cleanup of a former rail car plant that the state is helping pay for.
Key opponents
No organized opposition group has been reported. About two dozen residents came to the Aug. 11, 2026 commissioners meeting ready to object to a data center, and residents asked about power use, utility costs and pollution when SunCap presented in October 2025.
Key supporters
Then-board president Cheryl McDermott backed the zoning change, saying, "We need growth." SunCap asked commissioners in 2025 to allow data centers in industrial areas, citing market conditions and slower progress on the site than it wanted.

How we got here

A SunCap Property Group affiliate bought the 72-acre former Pressed Steel Car Company McKees Rocks Works site in 2023. On Oct. 8, 2025, Gov. Josh Shapiro's office announced a $6 million PA SITES grant to Nichol Avenue McKees Rocks LLC for phase two of a distribution and logistics park on the site, covering land along the rail spur, soil screening and disposal, rail spur rebuilding, stormwater controls, utility relocation, sewer line replacement and remediation. On Oct. 14, 2025, SunCap's attorney and Matt Virgin presented the data center idea to the Board of Commissioners, which voted 5-0 to advertise a zoning change allowing data centers in the general industrial district and changing its maximum building height, and Commissioner Tyler Kochirka said the proposal wasn't fully transparent. Commissioners approved the amendment 5-0 at their December 8 and 9, 2025 meeting. In a July 20, 2026 interview, Virgin said the company is still removing buildings and grading for one to three industrial facilities and has never planned a data center there. At the Aug. 11, 2026 meeting, township solicitor Bradley Matta told residents no data center proposal is before the board, and Commissioner Shyanne Rippole acknowledged long-running transparency problems in the township. The October 6, 2026 agenda listed industrial park zoning as an information item from Rippole.

What is at stake

Impacts raised and open questions

Energy costs and the grid

Low

When SunCap presented in October 2025, a nearby resident and Commissioner Tyler Kochirka asked whether a data center would draw on the existing grid and push up residents' bills, and SunCap told the board it needed more time to evaluate the effects on local infrastructure. No project has been proposed since.

WPXI-TV

Air quality

Low

Residents raised pollution and environmental concerns at the October 2025 meeting, and then-board president Cheryl McDermott said state and federal environmental agencies would regulate any data center.

CBS News Pittsburgh (KDKA)

Visual and light

Low

The zoning amendment adopted in December 2025 also changed the maximum building height in the general industrial district, according to township minutes, which don't state the new limit.

Stowe Township
Timeline

How it has unfolded

  • 2025-10-08The state announced a $6 million PA SITES grant to Nichol Avenue McKees Rocks LLC for a logistics park on the 72-acre former Pressed Steel Car site. Office of the Governor of Pennsylvania
  • 2025-10-14SunCap presented a data center proposal and commissioners voted to advertise a zoning change allowing data centers on industrial land. WPXI-TV
  • 2025-10-14Township minutes record SunCap's attorney and Matt Virgin discussing the data center idea, and a 5-0 vote to advertise an amendment that also changes the industrial district's maximum building height. Stowe Township
  • 2025-12-09Commissioners approved a zoning amendment adding data centers as a permitted use in the general industrial district, effective immediately. West Hills Gazette
  • 2026-06-23Public Source lists Stowe among Allegheny County data center plans as residents ask the county to step in. Pittsburgh's Public Source
  • 2026-07-20SunCap's executive vice president told Public Source no data center has ever been planned for the site. Pittsburgh's Public Source
  • 2026-08-11The township solicitor told about two dozen residents that no data center proposal is before the board. Pittsburgh's Public Source
  • 2026-10-06The commissioners' agenda lists industrial park zoning as an information item from Commissioner Shyanne Rippole. Stowe Township
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.

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