Menomonie Halts $1.6 Billion AI Datacenter After 11,000-Member Backlash

Q: Which tech giant is hiding behind the Balloonist LLC shell company, and what will they do with the Wisconsin land now?

The strongest public evidence points to Meta as the company behind Balloonist LLC, but Menomonie officials have not publicly confirmed it and the company has not been officially named in the project documents. That inference comes from related Wisconsin reporting showing Balloonist LLC was also used in Beaver Dam, where the developer was later identified as Meta. The Menomonie pitch also matched Meta-style hyperscale data center plans: a large AI-focused campus, heavy power needs, significant water use, and a promise of construction jobs and utility upgrades. Even so, absent an official disclosure, the identification remains highly likely rather than formally proven. As for the land in Menomonie, the immediate answer is that nothing is moving forward now. Balloonist still owns the 320-acre property, but the city’s new zoning rules effectively halted the project by creating a separate data center category and leaving no current zoning in place for the site. Any revival would require a new public rezoning process under stricter standards on water, electricity, wastewater, landscaping, noise, and financial bonding. So the Wisconsin land is, for now, being held rather than developed. The company could try to reapply under the tougher ordinance, redesign the project, wait for political conditions to change, or eventually sell the property. As of the latest reporting, there is no public sign of construction or a confirmed new plan.

1 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Nov 1

Menomonie’s mayor halted the $1.6 billion AI datacenter and the city council later unanimously passed a January zoning ordinance that effectively paused the project rather than canceling it.
11,000 residents joined a Stop the Menomonie Data Center Facebook group as anger grew over secrecy, NDAs, shell company Balloonist LLC, and fears about 75,000 gallons of daily water use, noise and grid strain.
City records show officials signed NDAs in February 2024, changed the zoning code in April 2024 to accommodate digital-data warehousing, and advanced a pre-development deal before many council members knew key details.
The project had promised up to 1,000 construction jobs and 50 to 75 permanent jobs, but the backlash helped unseat Mayor Randy Knaack after 16 years and pushed the city to tighten datacenter rules.
$156 billion in U.S. datacenter projects were blocked or delayed in 2025, placing Menomonie’s fight inside a broader national backlash against AI infrastructure.