A $7.78 million sale has paved the way for a highly publicized conversion project of an industrial park to a data center in Butler County, Ohio.
A panel of local real estate professionals named the sale of the 141-acre Trenton Industrial Park as Sale/Acquisition of the Year for Cincinnati-Dayton in the 2026 CoStar Impact Awards.
The acquisition by real estate investment trust Prologis will support the development of a hyperscale data center campus estimated between 1 million to 1.5 million square feet. The deal represents one of the largest single land transactions ever completed in the area.
Experts say the sale set a benchmark for land scale, value and future tax generation within the Trenton and Butler County industrial area. The transaction is the largest known single land purchase in the area and introduced a high-value, capital-intensive use that will significantly expand the city's commercial tax base.
The deal capped a yearslong process for city officials in Trenton. Following the city's original acquisition of the approximately 200-acre site, Trenton sold 50 acres to Shape Corp.
The City of Trenton then changed zoning regulations in hopes of attracting more modern industrial developers. The City Council approved a targeted zoning amendment to permit data centers within the industrial district.
The transaction also required a more advanced due diligence and underwriting approach than typical industrial land sales, accounting for power availability, redundancy, fiber connectivity, water access and long-term scalability.
About the project: The proceeds of this sale went toward the purchase of an additional 216 acres that the city intends to develop as the next phase of the Trenton Industrial Park.
Unlike traditional industrial development, the data center will generate substantial and recurring real estate tax revenue with limited demand on municipal services. The City Council hope this will help to reduce reliance on residential taxation while growing Trenton's economic base. In addition to long-term tax benefits, the project is expected to support approximately 150 construction jobs and 150 permanent positions.
What the judges said: "This was a major win for the region to have developed," said Trevor Wellbrock, director of site selection and real estate for REDI Cincinnati.
They made it happen: Grant Bates, executive director at Newmark, served as broker for the buyer, and George Stinson, senior vice president of Lee & Associates, worked as broker for the seller. Attorney Nick Ziepfel of Fox & Ziepfel also worked on the deal.