Quantum Maryland LLC v. Frederick County: Catellus-Managed Developer Sues to Lift Data Center Moratorium on Former Eastalco Site

Quantum Maryland LLC, the Catellus-managed master developer of the Frederick Digital Campus on the former Alcoa Eastalco smelter site near Adamstown, sued Frederick County, its Planning Commission and the county executive in Frederick County Circuit Court. The suit (Case No. C10CV26000874) challenges an executive-order freeze on new data center and substation applications that has now been extended to July 1, 2027. The developer asks the court to void the moratorium, let its applications proceed and award damages.

Why it matters

This is one of the first data center moratorium suits to attack the moratorium as an act beyond the executive's power rather than only as a vested-rights or takings problem: the developer argues that zoning authority sits with the county council under the charter, and the council had already adopted a data center zoning ordinance that survived a referendum challenge. The case also puts a lost land transaction reported at more than $500 million in play, and names the county executive personally, which raises the stakes for local officials who pause permitting while campaigning. Owners and lenders of large industrial and digital-infrastructure sites in Maryland and elsewhere should watch how the court treats an executive order that suspends a council-adopted zoning scheme.

Case timeline · 5 entries Latest: October 8, 2026 — Quantum Maryland LLC files suit in Frederick County Circuit Court

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