Lambiaso/TerraWatt v. City of St. Louis Board of Adjustment (Midtown Armory Data Center Zoning Cross-Suits)
David Lambiaso, co-founder of data center developer TerraWatt, sued the St. Louis Board of Adjustment, arguing it exceeded its authority when it conditioned approval of a 120-megawatt data center near the historic Armory on the project supplying on-site renewable energy and on aldermen approving a related community benefits agreement. The suit follows an earlier one filed August 28, 2026 by the Missouri Coalition for the Environment, the Missouri Workers Center, and area residents seeking judicial review of the same Board of Adjustment approval of the $3.1 billion project, planned for the former Famous-Barr warehouse at 3728 and 3854-58 Market Street.
Why it matters
The dispute presents a novel question about how far a municipal zoning board can go in attaching operational conditions — on-site renewable energy generation, aldermanic sign-off on a community benefits agreement — to a conditional use permit, and whether those conditions exceed statutory zoning authority. Data center developers and the local governments approving them are increasingly generating both permit-approval challenges from opponents and reverse challenges from developers contesting the conditions attached to their own approvals.
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