Data centers in Gordon County, Georgia: 1 project mapped

Imagery: Esri, Maxar

Gordon County and its seat, Calhoun, have both put data centers on hold while a project takes shape inside the city. In April 2026 Calhoun officials confirmed that a 57-acre tract at 1401 Highway 53 Spur, between the Brookstone subdivision and Fair's Auto, was being cleared as a possible data center site; a driveway had already gone in. City building official Joey Moore said the land is zoned industrial general, where "a data processing center would be a legal conforming use." Discover Gordon County reported talk of energy-rate negotiations between the city and North Georgia EMC. The Chattanooga Times Free Press reported in June that an Atlanta-based developer is pursuing a 500,000-square-foot data center covering 11 acres of the tract despite the city's moratorium.

On June 8, 2026 Calhoun's City Council voted 3-0, on a motion by Mayor Pro Tem Ed Moyer, to extend its moratorium six months to mid-January 2027, halting data center permits, approvals and construction in the city. The meeting drew a packed crowd. Gordon County, whose moratorium covers only unincorporated land and has no say inside Calhoun, extended its own pause on data centers and anaerobic digestion plants on July 7 through January 29, 2027, while staff and attorneys draft ordinances; the county has promised at least one public town hall before adopting them.

County staff have been preparing since a January work session, when Chief Building Inspector Darron Brown presented practices from other Georgia and Tennessee communities: every application to come before the commissioners, a 55-decibel limit at the property line, low-frequency noise measured by an expert, 500-foot setbacks, power use agreed in writing, and a cleanup bond if a center is abandoned. "If you have no regulation in place, then it's the wild wild west," County Administrator Jim Ledbetter said. Brown said the biggest problem would be power, and that projects would need standalone substations that do not affect residential customers.

Every project above is drawn from public records, filings and local reporting. Each row links to what it is based on. Statuses change, so check the source date before you rely on one. Found something wrong? Write to [email protected] and it gets fixed.