SIGNALDATAInsights. For the People.
Preview
Data center campus · Lower River Road, west of I-75, near Charleston and the Hiwassee River; Sierra Club puts it about 5 miles outside Cleveland city limits, Bradley County, Tennessee

Project River

Proposed as of Oct. 16, 2026

An $11.3 billion, 850-acre campus with up to 1,500 MW of gas and biomass generation that its developers say could support a data center; it needs annexation into Cleveland and has drawn organized opposition, and its developers asked the city to hold action in September 2026. Also known as: Wright family industrial campus, PUD 77 site.

Cite← Tennessee data centers
Anderson CountyBedford CountyBenton CountyBledsoe CountyBlount CountyBradley CountyCampbell CountyCannon CountyCarroll CountyCarter CountyCheatham CountyChester CountyClaiborne CountyClay CountyCocke CountyCoffee CountyCrockett CountyCumberland CountyDavidson CountyDecatur CountyDeKalb CountyDickson CountyDyer CountyFayette CountyFentress CountyFranklin CountyGibson CountyGiles CountyGrainger CountyGreene CountyGrundy CountyHamblen CountyHamilton CountyHancock CountyHardeman CountyHardin CountyHawkins CountyHaywood CountyHenderson CountyHenry CountyHickman CountyHouston CountyHumphreys CountyJackson CountyJefferson CountyJohnson CountyKnox CountyLake CountyLauderdale CountyLawrence CountyLewis CountyLincoln CountyLoudon CountyMacon CountyMadison CountyMarion CountyMarshall CountyMaury CountyMcMinn CountyMcNairy CountyMeigs CountyMonroe CountyMontgomery CountyMoore CountyMorgan CountyObion CountyOverton CountyPerry CountyPickett CountyPolk CountyPutnam CountyRhea CountyRoane CountyRobertson CountyRutherford CountyScott CountySequatchie CountySevier CountyShelby CountySmith CountyStewart CountySullivan CountySumner CountyTipton CountyTrousdale CountyUnicoi CountyUnion CountyVan Buren CountyWarren CountyWashington CountyWayne CountyWeakley CountyWhite CountyWilliamson CountyWilson CountyProject River · Proposed
PowerNot statedNot reported in the records found
Site850acres

Who is behind it

ProjectProject RiverAlso: Wright family industrial campus, PUD 77 site
Developer and teamWright Brothers Construction / Wright Industrial Group (Wright family)
Azure Energy (power plant developer)
End userNone named; the site is also marketed to manufacturing, robotics and semiconductor companies

The record, newest first

  1. Protesters opposed to Project River and Project MidSpan rallied outside an event featuring Sen. Marsha Blackburn, who said such projects are mainly local decisions. (WTVC NewsChannel 9, Oct. 16, 2026)

  2. The Southern Environmental Law Center urged rejection in a nine-page letter, arguing the main parcel cannot lawfully be annexed and estimating large emissions. Sierra Club Tennessee also announced its opposition, citing more than 4,000 petition signatures. (WTVC NewsChannel 9, Sept. 18, 2026; Sierra Club Tennessee, Sept. 18, 2026)

  3. The Wright family, which had said it would accept the draft terms subject to final language, asked the city to temporarily hold further action while a third-party technical team reviews the project. (WTVC NewsChannel 9, Sept. 18, 2026; The Center Square (via Just the News), Sept. 20, 2026)

  4. Cleveland outlined draft PUD 77 terms, including a 500-foot data center setback, a 60-decibel limit at the property line, 75% of directly used power generated on site, annual water and power reports, and a developer-funded fire, EMS and police site. (WTVC NewsChannel 9, Sept. 14, 2026; The Center Square (via Just the News), Sept. 15, 2026)

  5. First public meeting at the PIE Center; a second, with experts answering questions, followed on Sept. 12. (Local 3 News, Sept. 7, 2026; WTVC NewsChannel 9, Sept. 12, 2026)

  6. Backers publicly announced the project and said rezoning and annexation applications had been filed that week. An undated WDEF story from earlier in 2026 carried a Wright Brothers statement that no plans were final, no end user was chosen and no local approvals had been filed. (Chattanoogan.com, Aug. 26, 2026; Local 3 News, Sept. 7, 2026; WDEF News 12, undated)

  7. Cleveland's planning commission recommended annexation and two related items for nearly 400 Wright Brothers acres on Lower River Road after a motion to postpone failed. The planning director said the proposed zoning would not allow a data center and that a travel center was under discussion. (WTVC NewsChannel 9, Aug. 18, 2026; Local 3 News, undated)

Conflicts and open questions

  • Annexation conflict: The Center Square's Sept. 15 story says the family opted to annex the property into Cleveland, which can read as finished. WTVC, Local 3 and Sierra Club all describe annexation as pending or not yet voted.
  • County Mayor Gary Davis, per Local 3, says the roughly 385-acre annexation request is a different property from the 850 acres. Backers describe an annexation request near Exit 33 to extend city utility access, and SELC says nearby parcels do not establish contiguity. How the parcels relate is not settled in what we opened.
  • Jobs conflict: backers cite up to 2,600 direct and indirect jobs including 900 permanent ones; SELC questions the projections.
  • City records for PUD 77 and the annexation file were not opened; this entry rests on reporting. Coordinates are approximate, from the reported road.

The full record

Status note
On Sept. 18, 2026 the developers asked Cleveland to hold further action while outside experts review the plan. WTVC still called it a proposed development on Oct. 16. We found no annexation vote by the City Council.
Power note
Developer figure for on-site generation, not a measured data center load: up to 1,000 MW of natural gas and 500 MW of biomass, plus a requested 360 MW TVA connection for backup and peak demand. Local 3 reports no data center contract exists yet, and that developers said they had no current plans for an on-site data center, though the campus could support one.
Evidence
News reports; primary records not yet obtained
Size class
50 MW or more (tracker scope)
Map position approximate, from the reported address or area. Updated Oct. 17, 2026.