Residents of Sutton packed a Select Board meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 10, to oppose a $16 billion data center campus backed by the Kraft Group.[1] All six residents who spoke during public comment opposed the project.[1] The Central Massachusetts town has about 9,700 residents.[3] A Boston Globe review of town meeting videos found that a Sutton official first suggested a data center for the site in March 2025.[3]
Related: Boston Data Center Ban: Council Hearing Set for Oct. 19.
What the developer proposes
Unified Global Packaging Group and the Kraft Group, both affiliated with New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, would build 10 data center buildings on Unified’s land off Boston Road and Providence Road.[2][5] The site sits near the Millbury border.[1] Major transmission lines cross the land, including a 345-kilovolt line.[2]
The first phase calls for two buildings of about 250,000 square feet each, opening in 2029.[2] Two more would follow each year from 2030 through 2033.[1] The full campus would draw about 900 megawatts.[2] WCVB reported that it would be the fourth-largest data center in the country.[4]
The operator has opened talks with ISO New England, the regional grid operator, and plans to explore reclaimed water for cooling.[2] No application has been filed.[2] “The proposal is tentative,” Town Manager Austin Cyganiewicz wrote in a memo to the board.[5]
The tax case for the town
Town staff estimated that the first two buildings would pay about $10.4 million a year in property tax starting in fiscal 2031.[2] With all 10 buildings taxed, the bill would reach about $27.8 million a year by fiscal 2035.[2] Sutton’s entire tax levy for fiscal 2027 is about $32 million.[2]
Cyganiewicz estimated the first phase would cut the average single-family tax bill by about $2,300 in 2031.[1] The town’s financial plan projects a structural budget gap that grows from about $300,000 in fiscal 2028 to $9.1 million in fiscal 2033.[2] The town model does not yet put a figure on new municipal costs, such as public safety equipment.[2]
Residents and board members push back
“I don’t want to see this town sell its soul and get stuck as kind of the dumping ground of the AI industry,” resident Michael Galli said.[1] Retired physician Roseanne Labarre called for a moratorium on data center development in Sutton.[1] Residents also raised concerns about power, water and noise.[4]
Select Board Chair Jonathan Anderson said he had “a really strong dose of skepticism and concern about this project.”[1] Member Christine Watkins said the town should write a data center zoning bylaw before weighing the proposal.[1] Member Jesse Limanek, who said he lives six houses from the site, called for bylaws with “teeth.”[1] The board took no vote.[1]
How the idea began
Unified bought the 383-acre parcel for $9.5 million in 2020 and won a tax deal in 2022 to build a large warehouse there.[3] By 2025, Unified told the town it could not find a warehouse tenant.[3] At a March 2025 meeting, then-Select Board member Normand Champigny suggested a data center as a tenant.[3]
Champigny told the Globe he had a smaller co-location facility in mind, not “the monstrosity” of an AI data center.[3] Cyganiewicz told the Globe he first officially heard of the large proposal in late October.[3] The Kraft Group did not respond to the Globe’s requests for comment on Wednesday.[3]
What happens next
Gov. Maura Healey’s September executive order bars state permits for data centers over 25 megawatts without local approval and a community benefits agreement.[2] Sutton’s zoning bylaws do not address data centers.[2] A new bylaw would need a Planning Board hearing and a two-thirds Town Meeting vote.[2]
The town hopes to negotiate terms over the winter and publish draft terms in the spring.[1] Any agreement would need Town Meeting approval in May.[1] More coverage is in our Boston business news section and our data centers coverage.
Sources
- Boston.com: Sutton residents voice fierce opposition to proposed $16 billion Kraft data center
- This Week in Worcester: Kraft Group, Unified propose $16 billion data center campus in Sutton
- The Boston Globe: The Kraft Group wasn’t the first to propose a data center in Sutton. It was a town official.
- WCVB: ‘I speak in staunch opposition’: Sutton residents slam $16B Kraft data center plan
- CBS Boston: 900-megawatt data center campus proposed for central Massachusetts, backed by Kraft Group
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