Perrysburg Township land sparks development interest — and controversy
Perrysburg Township land sparks development interest — and controversy

A large tract of property in Perrysburg Township has caught the interest of the community through a prominent regional developer.
The New Albany Company, a development firm founded in the Columbus area by retail magnate Les Wexner, is shopping what it is calling the Perrysburg Business and Technology Park. The land is more than 400 acres that spreads along Fremont Pike to just south of Roachton Road. It is currently empty farmland, though the company sees it as rife with possibility.
“MBJ is acquiring the 425-acre site as a speculative investment given its existing zoning (general and light manufacturing), its proximity to the I-75/I-80/90 interchange, and the presence of CSX rail on site,” Lisa Hinson, a spokesman for the New Albany Company, said in a statement. MBJ refers to MBJ Holdings, the real estate investment affiliate of the New Albany Company. “At this time, we have no information about the future land use or the timing of development.”
The prospect of developing the site, known to some as the Kazmaier Assemblage, has become a hot topic in the community.
“It has always been a pretty significant piece of vacant land,” said Robert Mack, a longtime Perrysburg Township trustee.
Mr. Mack said the property was rezoned from agricultural to industrial about five years ago. In doing so, the township weathered some sensitivity from residents on the southern edge of the tract regarding industrial activity potentially going right up to their properties. That led to a buffer zone being created between the tract and the private properties.
“At the time we rezoned it, there was not significant opposition,” Mr. Mack said.
Resident opinion
Area residents say that rumors the Kazmaier land could be turned into a data center have been floated for a while.
Mark Snyder lives about a mile east of the site on farmland of his own. The farm has been in his wife’s family for more than a century.
Like many, he came across a “pitch deck,” or a sort of slideshow the New Albany Company recently released touting the advantages of the Perrysburg Business and Technology Park.
“It says 425 acres, plus I think it says ‘expansion capacity,’” Mr. Snyder said, referring to a line on Page 7 of the New Albany slideshow. “They’re looking to make it bigger, obviously.”
Mr. Snyder said he has been approached in recent months about selling his land. He wasn’t sure if the local law firm that contacted him was representing the New Albany Company, but the inquiry put him on alert and made him suspicious.
“If they need that much property, why do they need that much property?” Mr. Snyder asked, noting neighbors of his have also been contacted.
He drew parallels to what he has heard about the circumstances surrounding a data center project in Middleton Township. The Wood County area between Perrysburg and Bowling Green dealt with the matter dating back to 2023, and construction of the Meta facility is ongoing.
“If you look at Middleton, my understanding is they started off with several properties together and have just expanded and bought more. ... The pattern seems similar,” Mr. Snyder said.
Overall, Mr. Snyder and other residents say there is a lot they still just don’t know. According to them, township trustee meetings, including one that took place last week, often reveal more questions than answers.
A topic that recently came up was Section 9.66(D) in the Ohio Revised Code. It took effect on March 20 and says that public officials can be held criminally liable when disclosing certain information about projects related to economic development.
This has made waves through circles of interested parties in the community. Many feel dealings between the New Albany Company and Perrysburg Township fall under this.
“We can’t effectively talk to our legislators, our trustees, the people who are supposed to be representing us, without them being arrested for a misdemeanor which requires a year in jail and a $1,000 fine,” said Chris Coultrip, a retired police officer who lives just west of the Kazmaier property on Thompson Road.
Ms. Coultrip and Mr. Snyder share common concerns about why they don’t want to see a data center near their homes — from water usage, to noise, to temperature increases.
“These data centers come in and they have not been good neighbors,” Ms. Coultrip said. “They’re running diesel generators and the incidence of bronchitis, asthma, and heart disease have gone up.”
She cited a well-known incident in Georgia where residents near a Meta data center got sediment filled water from their taps. Ms. Coultrip said she has also attended EPA hearings to ask further questions of decision makers on how well emissions from data centers are being monitored.
New laws
Members of the board of trustees dispute that the new law is at play, voicing opposition to the idea behind the law.
“It struck me as overreaching because I am more inclined to think that anything that hits my inbox involving my township role is very much a public record,” Mr. Mack said.
“I haven’t had any personal experience where that has caused a concern yet, but it does fly in the face of the state Sunshine laws in my opinion, and it does seem relatively unconstitutional,” said Jeffrey Moore, a Perrysburg Township trustee who just started his term earlier this year. “I don’t like it one bit because I think that we should be 100 percent transparent.”
An additional concern that arose was a line about tax abatements for the Kazmaier land that is included in the description on the New Albany Company’s website.
It mentions a 10-year property tax abatement is available. Mr. Mack said he is very much interested in hearing any proposals from the New Albany Company as they are going to be making a substantial investment in the community. Still, he called the statement about the tax abatement “presumptuous” he did not believe it resulted from discussion with anyone on the board of trustees.
Mr. Mack said overall that he has not heard anything concrete about a data center project.
“Before it was even declared that it was being sold, we were tipped off by an attorney representing the landowners who said that could be the case,” Mr. Mack said of a data center being constructed on the site. “But I have not heard of any data center that is interested in it.”
“When they are ready to do something in our township, they need to come to us with a proposition,” Mr. Mack said. “Like here, this is how we want to use this land or this is how we want to provide incentives for companies that might want to go in.”
First Published May 13, 2026, 11:00 a.m.