Kenwood Commons data center, Albany, New York

EKG Group's Guild Ventures wants to redevelop the 76-acre Kenwood Commons hilltop off Southern Boulevard in Albany, New York, the former site of the Doane Stuart School and Kenwood convent that burned down in 2023, into a multibillion-dollar mixed-use technology campus anchored by a data center. No formal application has been filed with the city of Albany, but the developer has asked the New York Independent System Operator to study up to 180 megawatts of electric demand for the whole site, a figure Guild Ventures calls a theoretical ceiling; the data center itself could use up to 100 megawatts. That is twice the 50-megawatt threshold in Governor Kathy Hochul's one-year moratorium on state environmental permits for large data centers, which she signed July 14, 2026 while New York writes rules on energy demand, water and air quality, and effects on utility customers.

About a week before Hochul signed the order, the Albany Common Council passed a resolution supporting a statewide moratorium on data center permit siting, and Albany's mayor has also backed it. Owusu Anane, who represents Albany's 10th Ward on the Common Council, said: "We've seen many promises being made as it relates to data centers, but it's had an adverse impact on various communities, particularly when it comes to the water or even the utility bills." Asked whether data centers benefit Albany residents, he said the decision "needs to be led by the residents of those communities that are going to be impacted the most," adding: "This pause, I believe, is a step in the right direction."

In a statement, Guild Ventures director Michael-Henry Elghanian-Krayem said the company is still reviewing the governor's order but designed Kenwood "to be a project others could model themselves on, one that treats responsibility to the community as a starting condition rather than an afterthought, with no air impacts, limited water use, and protections for ratepayers." City officials say they have met with the property owner, but there is still no formal development application before Albany, so how the moratorium will apply to the project remains unclear.