A large and closely watched data center proposal in the West Valley has moved one step closer to reality after winning unanimous approval from Maricopa County’s Planning and Zoning Commission.
At an April 9 meeting, commissioners signed off on a military special use permit for Project Baccara, a sizable development that would pair a new data center campus with an on-site gas-fired power plant. The decision comes even as the proposal drew substantial pushback from the public, including 225 letters opposing the plan.
The project is being led by Takanock LLC, a Michigan-based data center developer that has been expanding its footprint beyond its home state. The company says it is investing $36 billion across four sites in three states as it prepares land and builds large-scale campuses designed to support rising digital infrastructure demand.
In Arizona, the company’s planned West Valley campus would occupy roughly 160 acres. The site sits next to Luke Air Force Base and just outside the boundaries of Surprise and Glendale, placing it in a sensitive area where growth, infrastructure needs and military compatibility are all under close scrutiny.
With the commission’s approval now in place, the project gains important momentum, though its location and scale are likely to keep it under public and regional attention as it moves through the next stages.
