US data center firm Vantage has been denied the chance to develop a new campus outside Frankfurt, Germany.

The Groß-Gerau city council this month voted against entering into contract negotiations with the company Vantage Data Centers regarding the establishment of a data center.

Groß-Gerau is a town some 30km south of Frankfurt am Main, one of the major data center hubs in Europe.

Vantage had hoped to develop a 174MW campus on 14 hectares in the Lausböhl industrial park on land previously used by the automotive logistics company ARS Altmann. The campus would have seen up to five four-story buildings developed.

In the works for more than a year, Vantage had aimed to invest some €2.5 billion ($2.97bn) in the project, reportedly known as FRA5, which would have made its waste heat available for reuse. The company bought the site back in 2022, according to Cushman & Wakefield.

The 18-14 decision saw the CDU and the combined Free Voters’ Association (FWG) vote in favor, while the SPD, Greens, FDP, Free Voters, and Left Party voted against.

Vantage Data Centers told local press it intends to first process the decision and determine the next steps internally. DCD has reached out for comment.

Thomas Hlubek, the local CDU parliamentary group leader, told TagesSchau: “We’re missing out on millions in tax revenue, we’re missing out on a good investor.”

SPD parliamentary group leader, Susanne Theisen-Canibol, said: “The business model is one in which others would generate very high added value, but the tax revenue would not remain in Groß-Gerau. We will not sell our city of Groß-Gerau to a multi-billion-dollar investor.”

Local press reports the lack of jobs and the impact of the large buildings on the local area were seen as negatives, as some fear the facilities could be a potential target for terrorism.

The local Green party had already made its opposition to the project and its plans to reject the proposals public, saying the “disadvantages of a data center at this location clearly outweigh the advantages.”

In a separate announcement after the council vote, the Groß-Gerau Greens called the project a “noisy, ugly monstrosity that would have overshadowed everything else – a structure with no connection to the town and its history.”

Founded in 1975, ARS Altmann AG is a pan-European automotive logistics service provider, transporting vehicles across Europe. The Groß-Gerau site had been used as a vehicle depot.

Vantage currently operates two data center campuses around the Frankfurt area: the 56MW FRA1 in Offenbach and the 56MW FRA2 in Raunheim. It also has two sites in Berlin.