Project Red Clay is a proposed data center in Lowndes County, Alabama, approximately six miles southwest of the City of Montgomery.
The project is being developed by Cloverleaf Infrastructure, a company committed to environmental stewardship and protecting the community against potential adverse effects. Project Red Clay will use a closed-loop cooling system, which greatly reduces water use, and will be responsible for any power or transmission upgrades to protect against an increase to electric rates.
Project Red Clay represents over a $1 billion taxable investment in Lowndes County and will provide a significant amount of revenue for the economy.
During the 3+ year construction period, Project Red Clay will create over 1,000 high-paying construction jobs, partnering with labor groups and sourcing from the local workforce through training programs.
Once the data center is operational, it is expected to create at least 50 full-time jobs. These jobs are high-paying positions such as data center technicians, network engineers, and IT support staff that often do not require four-year university degrees. A local workforce is preferred and frequently sourced through local training programs funded by the end user.
Project Red Clay commits to using a closed-loop cooling system requiring a one-time fill designed by licensed Alabama engineers. The building will only use as much water as an office building on a day-to-day basis and will not affect local water supplies.
Project Red Clay commits to paying for any power and transmission upgrades to protect existing ratepayers from an increase in their electricity bills.
Project Red clay is committed to partnering with the local community to invest in community-driven initiatives.
Central Alabama offers a unique combination of location, infrastructure, and connectivity that makes it well suited for modern data center development. Lowndes County sits along major transportation and utility corridors just outside Montgomery, providing access to reliable electric service, fiber connectivity, and regional workforce. These elements are critical for facilities that must operate continuously and effectively to support the growing demand for cloud services, digital storage, and artificial intelligence.
The region is also rooted in Alabama’s long history of supporting advanced industries—from manufacturing and aerospace to logistics and defense. That experience has helped create a business environment that understands large-scale infrastructure projects and the importance of dependable utilities, strong partnerships with local governments, and long-term investment. With the Montgomery area workforce, educational institutions, and growing technology presence nearby, the region is well positioned to support new digital infrastructure bringing local economic benefits with it.
Data Centers are highly secure buildings filled with computer servers that store, process, and move data around the world. They are where the internet lives. Instead of information being stored on your phone or computer alone, data centers safely store it and make sure it’s available whenever you need it.
These facilities power almost everything we do in today’s world – banking, healthcare, education, farming technology, government services and business operations all depend on them. As more homes, farms, and businesses rely on digital tools, the need for reliable data centers grows.
Components of an AI Data Center Campus; source: ULI White Paper “Local Guidelines for Data Center Development”
Data centers also bring local benefits. They create good-paying construction jobs, support local vendors, and contribute millions of dollars in local tax revenue that help fund municipal services, schools, roads, and emergency services. Further, modern data centers help make the power grid stronger and more reliable, because they often result in – and fund – the build-out of additional generation and transmission infrastructure, helping the grid stay stable during times of high demand or extreme weather.
Data centers are the backbone of our digital economy – keeping our communities connected, supporting innovation, and powering the tools we use every day.
Cloverleaf Infrastructure is an industrial real estate developer specializing in data centers. Cloverleaf prepares land for technology companies that build and operate data centers — the facilities that store and process information for things like the internet, cloud services, and everyday online tools. Once sites have all the necessary local approvals ahead of construction and power confirmed to the site, Cloverleaf will look for the right data center company to build and operate the facility.
Project Red Clay has responded to recent community questions.
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