LOWELL — Jeff Markley has been building data centers since 1991. Some 35 years later, he still is, but is concerned that opposition to the technology is challenging the commonwealth’s ability to remain competitive and relevant into the 21st century.
“If Massachusetts wants to stay competitive in the global economy or regional or whatever, without this they’re going to be in big trouble,” Markley said during an interview Wednesday at the Markley Group’s Lowell campus in the city’s Sacred Heart neighborhood. “They won’t come to Massachusetts. [We] will lose out.”
He said one of the biggest pharmaceutical companies in the world was touring Markley Lowell that morning.
“They’re either going to pick us, or Virginia or Texas,” he said.
When Markley built his flagship facility above Macy’s in Downtown Crossing in 1997, Boston welcomed the high-tech company. The Markley Group then purchased the derelict and long-vacant former Prince Pasta plant in Lowell for $4 million in 2015, and embarked on a dramatic renovation and expansion, investing at least $650 million in the site to date.
Like Markley Boston, Markley Lowell is a colocation data center that rents secure space to organizations to run their own technology. Those companies include the Red Sox, universities and even games of chance. The Massachusetts State Lottery Commission named Markley Boston as its colocation service provider in 2021.
But the privately owned company has faced some local headwinds that Jeff Markley said were in part driven by a misunderstanding of its role in the data center universe.
“There weren’t any haters until two years ago,” he said.
The protests against data centers nationwide emerged as hyperscale facilities were built to run the artificial intelligence models that have dominated both the landscape and the conversation. Hyperscalers serve one customer — like Amazon, X (formerly known as Twitter), Meta or Google — and the complexes can take up hundreds of acres in buildings with millions of square footage. They often generate their own unregulated power supply and consume copious amounts of natural resources such as water.
Westfield’s proposed hyperscale data center is projected to have a total project area of more than 150 acres and almost 3 million square feet. In comparison, the Markley Lowell data center sits on 15 acres and is 352,000 square feet.
“Our business model is not these hyperscale centers,” Jeff Markley said.
Specifically, he said he was “heartbroken” about the protests against the Markley Lowell facility by a core group of residents whose views he said don’t reflect the Greater Lowell community and which are based on “false narratives.”
Some residents in the economic justice neighborhood have consistently testified to noise and air quality concerns, ongoing and disruptive construction projects and violations of approved permitting.
In April, a coalition of 10 Lowell residents filed suit in Middlesex Superior Court against the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and Markley Group LLC. The 94-page filing challenged the final decision by MassDEP in authorizing Markley’s operation of 27 industrial diesel backup generators and 16 cooling towers in the middle of a densely populated residential community prior to final plan approval, a process the suit called a “flawed air quality plan.”
Of the dozen or so people who attend public meetings to speak in opposition to Markley Lowell’s development plans, Jeff Markley said there are dozens more who don’t come forward but who support the data center. He provided The Sun with letters from residents, business owners, universities and unions that spoke to the positive impact of the data center in the city and the region.
“UMass Lowell has housed our primary campus Data Center at Markley Lowell for the past four years,” said a letter dated June 2025 and signed by UMass President Marty Meehan and UMass Lowell Chancellor Julie Chen. “Additionally, as UMass Lowell continues to work with our industry partners in drawing new businesses to Lowell, hosting one of the world’s foremost data centers in our community is an extremely valuable amenity.”
The large black cube that houses Markley Lowell’s data center is surrounded by a verdant campus filled with trees, flowering plants, brick-lined paths and outdoor artwork such as a black granite sculpture by artist Robert Irwin. Markley said he plans to add beehives to the tableau.
The landscaping acts to both beautify the space, as well as to buffer and shield the company’s operations from the adjoining residential properties.
Markley said the 21 operating diesel-powered, backup generators on the north side of the facility are encased in decibel reduction enclosures that cost $1 million each, in addition to the $30,000 each for the generators. The four southside generators are buffered by a large earthen berm and numerous trees and shrubs. The 16 chillers on the east side of the property are being encased in a soundproofed enclosure.
“We spent millions and millions of dollars on sound attenuation,” Jeff Markley said. “And landscaping.”
The inside of the facility combines Jeff Markley’s technology business with his artistic interests. Murals by Boston-based artist Percy Fortini-Wright animate the two-story-high corridors and uninterruptible power supply areas, while sculptures and paintings are displayed throughout the public areas of the campus.
The complex has room to grow if both the political and local climate remains amenable to data center expansion.
This March, Lowell’s City Council imposed a 360-day moratorium on the expansion of existing data centers, and the construction of new ones, although Markley Lowell’s existing data center is grandfathered in.
And this week, Gov. Maura Healey issued an executive order giving communities a voice in protecting them against irresponsible data center development and higher energy bills.
Markley said he’s raising his family in Massachusetts, and wants them to grow up in a state that is competitive in the global economy.
“Our data centers make our 21st-century lives possible and are critical to growth and research,” he said in a Thursday statement. “The systems behind Massachusetts’ world-class hospitals, banks, universities, public transportation, health insurance, biological and life science research, first responders, critical communications, and media must be stored and operate somewhere safely and securely. The Markley Group serves more than 500 clients in Massachusetts and connects the digital infrastructure that powers our economy, our schools, and the everyday needs of our community. We meet the demand of our local clients, who demand world-class service. As client needs grow, we will work to balance the needs of our state and local officials to help keep Massachusetts a world leader. ”
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