Data center developer walks away from plans to buy old printing facility in Minneapolis' North Loop

The future of a big piece of Minneapolis property is suddenly wide open. Legacy Investing, a company that develops data centers, is walking away from its plan to purchase the old Star Tribune printing facility in the North Loop.

The company, based in Arlington, Virginia, which also converted the Sleep Number building into a data center, was under contract to purchase the 13-acre printing site and the parcels next to it. 

The deal is now off, leaving the Minnesota Star Tribune back at square one with the property. 

In a statement, the media organization said it remains "committed to maximizing the value of the Heritage Printing Facility for the benefit of our community and our journalism."

A proposal for a data center at the site has drawn concerns from residents who packed a neighborhood meeting last month. Questions focused on power, water and noise impacts. Developers tried to ease those concerns, assuring residents it would be a small site with water use comparable to that of a few homes.

Residents WCCO spoke to Friday were happy that the developer moved on. 

"We were so relieved," said Natalie Young. "Like, I'm just so happy." 

We reached out to Legacy Investing for a comment, but WCCO's email bounced back. 

While the data center proposal is now tabled, the broader debate is far from over. 

Minneapolis' moratorium on data center development is set to expire in November.