A second data center in Independence's Little Blue Valley will have to wait a couple more weeks.
The Independence City Council on Monday, Oct. 19, postponed a vote on a resolution approving the assignment of a leasehold interest in property at 2500 S. Little Blue Parkway, KSHB 41 reported. The item will come back Nov. 2.
The project
Patmos, a Kansas City-based company founded in 2021, applied for a building permit in June 2026 to put a 100-megawatt, 285,000-square-foot data center in the EastGate Commerce Center, KSHB reported.
Patmos plans to start with a 17.5-megawatt data center on the east side of Little Blue Parkway. According to the company's presentation to the city, the project will include six "muffled" backup generators and will use less than 10,000 gallons of city water per day.
Patmos already runs a data center in the former Kansas City Star Press Pavilion downtown, co-located with Nebius. It also operates in Phoenix and Dallas and has a 20-megawatt facility under contract in Fairfield, Alabama.
Why the council's hands are tied
NorthPoint Development leases the industrial center from the city, which approved Chapter 100 bonds for the park in May 2022. The lease gives NorthPoint the right to assign or transfer its interests in all or part of the building, which it wants to do by selling space to Patmos. The deal is expected to close Nov. 12, pending city approval, KSHB reported.
Under the lease, the city can't "unreasonably" withhold, condition or delay a transfer if the new party can show "sufficient experience and a net worth sufficient to complete and operate the project."
The Patmos project also isn't subject to Independence's new data center zoning rules. It was grandfathered in before the city's moratorium, KSHB reported. In fact, the Patmos application helped prompt the moratorium and a review of the city's zoning laws.
Next to a much bigger project
The Patmos site is a few miles south of the 400-acre Nebius data center, which residents strongly opposed after it was announced in December 2025. The council approved the Nebius project in March 2026.
The EastGate Commerce Center already houses Arco business offices for the nearby Nebius development, according to KSHB. It also holds the Fort Osage School District's Fort Connect classrooms and the Community Services League's EastGate Career Hub, a workforce development space.
A group of residents sued Nebius, the city and a third party planning to build power generation for that project. A hearing in the case is set for Oct. 22.
The timeline
- Nov. 2: Council takes up the lease assignment again.
- Nov. 12: Expected closing date for the NorthPoint-Patmos deal, pending city approval.
- Oct. 22: Court hearing in the residents' lawsuit over the Nebius project.
Why it matters for contractors
The Little Blue Valley is turning into a data center district. The Nebius project alone covers 400 acres, and Arco, a design-build firm, already has offices in the EastGate center for that work. A 100-megawatt Patmos facility would add another big job nearby.
Data centers like this one need electrical, mechanical, generator and controls work in particular, plus building out space inside an existing industrial building. With Patmos starting at 17.5 megawatts, the project could also come in phases, which can mean repeat work over time.
The council vote is a procedural step, and city leaders appear to have limited room to block it under the lease terms. Still, the delay and the Nebius lawsuit show that local opposition remains strong. Kansas City-area contractors should watch the Nov. 2 vote and the Oct. 22 hearing. The outcomes could affect timing on both projects.