May 12, 2026 | Posted by Abdul-Rahman Oladimeji
A former Walmart property in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, could be redeveloped into a data center. The city’s plan commission is reviewing two proposals that would permit the development of an “indoor self-storage facility and data processing/computer services/computer research facility” at 5825 W. Hope Avenue.
Documents submitted to the City of Milwaukee ahead of a May 18 plan commission meeting show that a data center would occupy about 19,000 sq ft (1,765 sqm) of a 160,000 sq ft (14,865 sqm) vacant former Walmart building, which closed in 2016. The proposed facility would focus on high-performance computing and use a closed-loop glycol cooling system.
The data center will be part of a larger 108,000 sq ft (10,033 sqm) self-storage development. The project is backed by AFS Milwaukee LLC, which acquired the site in June 2022, alongside Gorman & Company and the City of Milwaukee. Details on the facility’s IT capacity have not been disclosed.
