The Frankfurt Administrative Court has ruled that Mainova Webhouse cannot build a new data center campus in Seckbach, Germany, due to its ties to the city of Frankfurt.

As reported by the Frankfurter Rundschau, the lawsuit has determined that because Mainova Webhouse’s parent company is Frankfurt-based energy supplier Mainova, of which the city is a majority shareholder via an indirect stake.

Blackrock actually owned 50.1 percent shares in Mainova Webhouse, but the indirect ties to the city have led to criticism as the city can only take part in commercial activity if “the purpose is not or cannot be fulfilled equally well and economically by a private third party,” as per Section 121 of the Hessian Municipal Code, reports FR.

The court further ruled that, despite the city’s argument that the new Mainova Webhouse data center should fall under the “grandfathering” principle, the new building is actually a significant expansion and is not covered.

According to Gerhard Budde, head of the legal department for the city of Frankfurt, the city will decide whether to appeal once it receives the written judgment though it maintains its belief that the data center project is covered by the Hessian Municipal Code.

DCD has reached out to Mainova Webhouse for comment.

Mainova Webhouse secured €475 million ($501m) in financing for data center projects in Frankfurt in November 2024 to be used for the construction of its two data center campuses in the Frankfurt area.

The campus in question is a 30MW data center campus in the Seckbach area of Frankfurt, which is already at least partially operational, and a 20MW site south of Frankfurt in Langen. The company broke ground on a second 10MW building at the Seckbach campus earlier this year.

Based on previous reports, the lawsuit finds its origins in the city’s move to assign areas of the city for specific industries, including data centers. It seems likely that the company that filed a lawsuit was Global Switch, with FR quoting Jens Leutcher, Global Switch’s managing director, as threatening to file a legal challenge in December 2024.

In 2022, the City Council of the City of Frankfurt am Main decided on “long-term urban development goals” for the city as a whole, which would involve designating areas of the city for specific industry and commerce developments – including data centers.

In December 2024, the City Council firmed up these plans, including a development plan “No. 946 – East of the A5 / Eschborner Landstraße – Section 1” which included land owned by Global Switch.

Global Switch’s data center campus in Frankfurt currently comprises two data centers: Frankfurt South with 17,686 sqm (190,370 sqm) of space, and Frankfurt North with 11,862 sqm (127,682 sqm). Frankfurt North was completed in March 2024 by Mercury Engineering, the main contractor.