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Data center campus · 2 Prince Ave., Lowell (former Prince pasta plant, Sacred Heart neighborhood), Middlesex County, Massachusetts

Markley Lowell data center

Operating as of Oct. 24, 2026

Massachusetts' largest data center, a 352,000 square foot colocation site in a converted pasta factory, faces lawsuits and a city moratorium over its expansion with more diesel generators. Also known as: Markley Group Lowell, former Prince pasta plant.

Cite← Massachusetts data centers
Barnstable CountyBerkshire CountyBristol CountyDukes CountyEssex CountyFranklin CountyHampden CountyHampshire CountyMiddlesex CountyNantucket CountyNorfolk CountyPlymouth CountySuffolk CountyWorcester CountyMarkley Lowell data center · Operating · 50 MW
Power50MW reported · stated
Floor area352,000sq ft
Site14acres

Who is behind it

ProjectMarkley Lowell data centerAlso: Markley Group Lowell, former Prince pasta plant
Developer and teamMarkley Group
End userNot found in the recordsNot yet named in any record or credited report we have found.

The record, newest first

  1. Markley's website lists the Lowell site as a live location with 352,000 square feet of secured space, generator backup and two utility substation feeds; Baxtel gives its address as 2 Prince Ave. (Markley Group, Oct. 24, 2026; Baxtel, Oct. 24, 2026)

  2. GBH News and WBUR reported that a Middlesex Superior Court judge paused installation of four new diesel generators while residents' challenge to the air permits proceeds. (GBH News, Aug. 11, 2026; WBUR (State House News Service), Sept. 8, 2026)

  3. GBH News reported that Markley sued over the moratorium and reached an agreement with the city letting expansion plans that predate it proceed. (GBH News, July 29, 2026; GBH News, Aug. 11, 2026)

  4. Data Center Dynamics reported that two LLCs owned by Markley's CEO bought the site of the 85 MW Tanner Street peaker plant, closed in 2024, and a Bolt Street parcel; the filings sought only to subdivide the lots, and no data center plan has been filed for either. (Data Center Dynamics, April 24, 2026)

  5. The Lowell City Council voted 10-0 for a 360-day moratorium on building or expanding data centers. (Boston Business Journal (via NBC Boston), March 10, 2026; Yale Law School (YLS Today), March 16, 2026; GBH News, July 29, 2026)

  6. According to Yale Law School's environmental justice clinic, residents represented by the clinic and Alternatives for Communities & the Environment appealed a MassDEP air permit allowing eight more diesel generators (27 total) and 16 cooling towers. (Yale Law School (YLS Today), March 16, 2026)

  7. Markley said it would open a 50 MW data center in the converted Prince pasta building. (Data Center Dynamics, June 22, 2015)

Conflicts and open questions

  • Court cases, as reported (no court filing was opened): residents' Superior Court challenge to the generator air permits, against MassDEP and Markley, with a court-ordered pause on four generators on Aug. 10, 2026; a separate class action over noise; and Markley's suit over the moratorium, resolved by agreement in July 2026.
  • Markley's own page lists the Lowell site (352,000 sq ft) without a street address; 2 Prince Ave. comes from Baxtel.
  • Caveat: every court event above is described from news reporting and the Yale clinic's own page; SignalData has not opened the court filings or the judge's order. Claims in the residents' challenge and in the noise class action are allegations, not findings; both were unresolved in the sources reviewed.
  • Tanner Street: the purchase is listed because reporting tied it to Markley's CEO; no filing or statement links the parcels to a data center, and SignalData does not suggest any plan beyond what has been filed.

The full record

Status note
Operating since about 2015; a contested expansion with new diesel generators and cooling towers is partly blocked by a court order.
Power note
50 MW was announced in 2015 (DCD); no current MW figure was found.
Evidence
Primary public records
Size class
50 MW or more (tracker scope)
Map position approximate, from the reported address or area. Updated Oct. 17, 2026.