A spokesman for the Flint Hills Digital Campus data center project says a Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding involving the project’s developer does not affect the data center’s financial prospects.
Spokesman Garrett Nordstrom says the filing involving Gary Pinkston through federal court in the Northern District of Georgia involves a residential development in Hawaii, specifically a dispute involving a lending agreement. The case involving the Waikoloa Village project, a nearly 4-acre mixed-use development, was filed in May and has not yet been resolved. Pinkston, meanwhile, has filed a fraud suit against partners in the development.
Nordstrom’s statement says the current case “does not define the broader body of work completed over the course of (Pinkston’s) career,” including a range of developments across the country. Nordstrom also says a Chapter 11 filing involving one project does not dictate the feasibility of a separate project — and he says residents should ask whether the Flint Hills Digital Campus project, announced June 2, will “demonstrate the financial capacity, technical expertise, contractual commitments, utility planning and operational resources necessary to deliver what has been proposed.”
Meanwhile, lawmakers representing Lyon County say the state’s tax incentive policy — specifically Senate Bill 98 — dealing with data centers, including the Digital Campus, are a prudent step for data center developers and communities in which the facilities could be located. 17th District Senator Mike Argabright of Olpe says it’s a “positive approach” to economic development.
60th District Representative Mark Schreiber of Emporia says SB 98 is designed to set guardrails for data center developments
Argabright says the digital center could be a positive for the city and the area.
Schreiber says he has been paying attention to the concerns recently floated in and around Emporia.
Both Schreiber and Argabright say it’s good that residents are asking questions about the project, and they encourage more questions before a final decision is made. They also stress the need for accurate information with the number of questions already expressed.
Meanwhile, public processes continue moving towards the Emporia Planning Commission’s special meeting June 23 on a proposed Digital Infrastructure Overlay. That meeting will be at 6 pm at the White Auditorium Little Theatre.
