Vantage Data Centers · Gross-Gerau, Hesse, Hessen

The Groß-Gerau town council, in Hesse, Germany south of Frankfurt, voted 18 to 14 on February 3, 2026, against opening contract negotiations with Vantage Data Centers over a 174-megawatt data center campus in the Lausböhl industrial area. Vantage owns the roughly 14-hectare site near Dornberg station, a former vehicle depot, and had planned about 2.5 billion euros of investment in five buildings up to about 30 meters high. The CDU and Kombi-FWG voted in favor while the SPD, Greens, FDP, Free Voters and Left voted against, after a debate of nearly 90 minutes watched by more than 70 people.

"The business model is one in which others would generate very high added value, but the tax revenue would not remain in Groß-Gerau," said SPD group leader Susanne Theisen-Canibol. "We're missing out on millions in tax revenue, we're missing out on a good investor," said CDU group leader Thomas Hlubek.

Residents objected that the site lies in a fresh-air corridor; Wolfgang Zwer of the Lausböhl citizens' initiative said the group was not against data centers as such, only against one of this size. The local Greens called the plan a "noisy, ugly monstrosity that would have overshadowed everything else."

Vantage said it would first process the decision and settle its next steps internally, and Mayor Jörg Rüddenklau said the town would seek talks on how the site, which Vantage still owns, could be developed for the town's benefit. Any new data center plan for the site would need a fresh agreement with the Groß-Gerau town council.