Previously planned Newark data center site could become part of Christina School District

Why Should Delaware Care?
A proposed data center near Newark drew criticism from local residents about the facility’s potential to raise electric bills and damage the environment. It now appears that part of the site will instead host the Christina School District’s Networks Schools for Employable Skills. 

For months, Newark-area residents have voiced concerns about a proposed data center near the town border, saying it would use too much water and energy and be too noisy.  

Two months after New Castle County Councilman Tim Sheldon brokered a handshake deal to pause the project, it appears the property’s management company may be moving forward with different plans for the site. 

Earlier this month, New York-based developer Shelbourne submitted plans to the county to convert half of an existing building in the White Clay Center, a Newark-area industrial and office park, into a 10-classroom vocational technical school.

If the application is approved, the building would be part of Christina School District’s Networks Schools for Employable Skills, according to letters submitted to the county as part of the application. The Networks School focuses on teaching students with individualized education plans (IEPs) “real-world job skills.” 

Norma Brister, the principal of the Networks School for Employable Skills, told Spotlight Delaware the space would not mark an expansion of the school. 

Instead, it would allow the school to be housed at one location. 

Brister said the school is currently located at 30 Blue Hen Drive and also has four “enterprise areas” roughly four miles away at the Shue-Medill Middle School.

During an August board meeting, Christina school board members approved an agenda item to relocate the school as soon as January of 2027.

Although an exploratory site plan was submitted on behalf of the school earlier this month, that does not mean the deal has been finalized. 

What happened to the data center plans?

Shelbourne originally planned to demolish the existing White Clay Center office and industrial buildings and construct a three-building data center campus totaling 850,000 square feet.  

Those plans were previously wrapped into a larger community backlash in Delaware against the growth of the data center industry, which is booming across the country because of the promises of artificial intelligence technology. 

According to an email exchange between Sheldon and land use attorney Shawn Tucker, the deal depended on the county’s all-but-guaranteed approval of an exploratory plan application from the developer, which would grandfather the land into zoning rules that existed prior to this year. 

That means the developer would not have to follow the county’s recently-passed data center regulations if the developer ultimately decides to build a data center there. 

But the data center plan has not yet been approved by the county. 

The county’s planning department submitted additional comments about the plan last month, including asking the developer to confirm there is enough energy supply to serve the site. 

Sheldon said the developer is still trying to get the data center plan approved while also seeking out other tenants for the vacant buildings in the business park. 

“They’re not pushing it, but they’ve gotta keep their options open,” he said.