As Minneapolis moves toward a permanent zoning framework for data centers, City Council Members Elizabeth Shaffer and Michael Rainville convened a downtown community conversation aimed at separating large-scale fears from the smaller urban projects now being discussed for the city’s core.
Amid a looming municipal budget crisis and a rapidly shifting commercial real estate market, Minneapolis city leaders and industry experts gathered Thursday night to map out the future of urban data center development.
The “Community Conversation,” co-hosted by City Council Members Elizabeth Shaffer (Ward 7) and Michael Rainville (Ward 3) at the Public Service Building, arrived at a critical legislative juncture. Earlier that afternoon, the City Council passed a temporary moratorium on data center developments in a razor-thin vote. The pause is intended to give officials time to establish a permanent zoning framework, a process set to include 60 days of public engagement this summer with a final ordinance target date in mid-November 2026.