March 27 Interim City Manager Krishna Namburi signs a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) with Verrus, effective April 10, shortly after she was formally appointed interim following the abrupt resignation of the previous City Manager because of actions spurred by Mayor Julie Hoy, which resulted in an ethics investigation from the Oregon Government Ethics Commission.
The NDA was obstensibly to allow the developer to assess site feasibility, due diligence and preliminary engineering while consulting with City staff about development code requirements. The City provided pre-application timeline and material are available on the City's website.
May 22, Developer (Alderstone, LLC) applies for a 3-year Property Tax Exemption for Lots 1, 2, 4 & 5 (pp 83-85 the pre-application material), which is approved by Marion County on May 27, 2026 by Marion County.
May 22, Alderstone, LLC signs First Source Hiring Agreement with Oregon Work Force, committing to hiring “qualified applicants” through the Public Labor Exchange System (pp 88-92 of pre-application material).
June 3, City staff verifies zoning and eligible uses for 4610 Mill Creek. 26-110903-PLN, Lot 2 of the project.
July 8, Verrus releases City from NDA.
July 13, City Manager announces proposed Verrus AI data center project under general comments at the start of the City Council meeting. The project is not on the agenda; however, trade representatives are present and speak in support of the project under public comments at the end of the meeting.
July 27, City Council meeting agenda includes an overview of the data center project. Nearly a thousand people attend in person and online. The library cannot accommodate everyone so people watch the livestream from outside on their phones. Vast majority of people who speak oppose the project and those outside chant and hold signs against the data center.
The agenda also included two items proposed by Councilor Varney: one to direct staff to evaluate the use of NDAs related to data centers and the other to establish a task force to evaluate development code provisions related to data centers. Both passed.
July 30, Gov Kotek cancels sale of 32 acre parcel to Verrus, which changes the site configuration of the project (reducing 75 acre project to 43 acres, or so we thought.)
July 31, Alderstone LLC submits first land use application to City. The proposed project includes 3 parcels, not including the State-owned lot, totaling 100 acres.
August 3, City Council meeting agenda includes a proposed moratorium on AI data centers and a resolution initiating code amendments related to these hyper scaled facilities. Again, hundreds attend online and in person, and the library cannot accommodate everyone so people watched from outside. Again, the vast majority of people who speak oppose the project. Council unanimously directs staff to initiate the process.
August 24, the City Council conducts a public hearing regarding the proposed North Waterfront Urban Renewal Area (URA), which contains two zones that allow data centers by right. Based on public testimony and concerns by several Councilors, staff recommends deferring the public hearing to a date uncertain. Also on the agenda was an appeal to a zoning application denial to rezone 1505 Front Street, NE (in the proposed URA) from MU-R (Mixed-Use Riverfront) to IC (Industrial Commercial), which would allow data centers by right. The public hearing for this appeal was rescheduled to September 28.
August 28, City staff completes its evaluation of the Alderstone data center application and issues an Incomplete Letter, deeming its data center application incomplete. Under State law, Adlerstone has 180 days to respond and provide sufficient information to receive an Application Complete determination. Per City staff, multiple rounds of submittals are likely.
September 2, The City conducts its 1st Data Center Task Force meeting.
September 15, the City conducts its first town hall sponsored by the Data Center Task Force to provide residents an opportunity to meet with staff at different stations related to land use, water and electricial consumption, infrastructure, and economic impact. The open house is lightly attended by the public.