Royal 400’s existing Alpharetta data center has an approved roughly 61,000-square-foot expansion. What remains under municipal review is the power infrastructure and related land-use package needed to support it, including a proposed on-site Georgia Power substation.
By Cary Blumenfeld | BBDN
Something unusual keeps happening with the Royal 400 Data Center at 4905 North Point Parkway.
Related applications have repeatedly appeared on Alpharetta public-hearing agendas and then been deferred by city staff before consideration.
Now, the full application packet gives us a much clearer picture of what is actually being proposed, what has already been approved, and what was still changing immediately before one of those scheduled reviews.
First, the expansion itself is already permitted
The applicant’s August 3 letter of intent identifies the property as an existing approximately 183,325-square-foot data center constructed in 2008.
According to that filing, the Royal 400 Master Plan currently allows up to 245,200 square feet of data-center use. The applicant says a planned approximately 61,000-square-foot expansion falls within that existing maximum.
Crucially, the filing also says a land-disturbance permit for that expansion, LDP D230021, has already been approved.
Important distinction: the expansion and the proposed substation are not the same approval. The expansion has an approved land-disturbance permit. The proposed Georgia Power substation and associated land-use changes remain under review.
So what is Alpharetta being asked to approve?
The current applications, MP-26-13 and CU-26-11, seek to amend the Royal 400 Master Plan to add Utility Substation as a conditional use and obtain conditional-use approval for an on-site utility substation.
The applicant says the existing data center is currently powered through an off-site substation. The proposed new Georgia Power substation would directly feed the Royal 400 property and, according to the application, free capacity at the off-site facility currently serving it.
The earlier request focused on the Kimball Bridge Road buffer
An earlier case, PH-26-12, appeared on Alpharetta’s July 20 City Council agenda.
That request sought to change a zoning condition by reducing a required 100-foot buffer to 40 feet along Kimball Bridge Road in order to accommodate a power substation.
City staff deferred that item before council considered it.
Then the application scope was still changing immediately before review
The most interesting new document in the packet is an email exchange dated September 2 and September 3, immediately before the September 3 Planning Commission meeting.
In that exchange, the applicant’s land-use attorney identified a broader set of requests for advertising purposes, including:
- adding Utility Substation as a conditional use
- reducing the required 100-foot undisturbed buffer along Kimball Bridge Road to 40 feet
- modifying required security-fence materials
- allowing fence and wall heights above eight feet
- allowing alternative fence and wall materials and fencing or walls in the front yard
A city staff member responded that the legal advertisement would be updated the following morning and said there should not be a problem with the newspaper making the late change.
This is a clue, not an answer. The documents establish that the application scope was still being adjusted immediately before public review. They do not establish that those changes caused the deferral.
The repeated-deferral timeline
- July 20: PH-26-12, the related buffer-change request, was deferred by staff.
- September 3: MP-26-13 / CU-26-11 were scheduled for Planning Commission and deferred by staff.
- September 14: MP-26-13 / CU-26-11 appeared on the City Council agenda and were again identified as deferred by staff and not considered.
Why does this keep getting deferred?
That remains unresolved.
The public records BBDN reviewed document the deferrals but do not provide an explicit reason for them.
The late changes to the advertised scope give us a specific issue to investigate, but it would be speculation to say they caused the deferrals without confirmation from the city or applicant.
BBDN has asked Alpharetta Community Development why MP-26-13 / CU-26-11 have repeatedly been deferred, whether a new hearing date has been established, and whether the current application package materially replaced or revised the earlier PH-26-12 request.
What has been approved, and what has not?
- Existing data center: operating.
- Approximately 61,000-square-foot data-center expansion: within the existing master-plan data-center allowance, with land-disturbance permit LDP D230021 approved according to the applicant.
- Proposed on-site Georgia Power substation: not approved through MP-26-13 / CU-26-11.
- Master-plan amendment and conditional use: under municipal review and repeatedly deferred before consideration.
- Deferral: not a denial.
Why this matters
The application shows that the next phase of this existing data-center campus is not simply about additional building area. It also requires a significant power-infrastructure component.
The applicant says the on-site substation is necessary for Georgia Power to meet the data center’s requirements and would directly feed the property. The application also says the substation location was selected to minimize clearing and avoid the need for a new right-of-way and transmission lines by placing it adjacent to existing overhead power lines.
The unanswered reporting question is now much narrower: what specifically is keeping the land-use package from moving forward?
Want the next Royal 400 update?
Comment INFO on the BBDN Reel and I’ll send you this full breakdown. BBDN will update this page when Alpharetta explains the staff deferrals, establishes a new hearing date, or another material filing changes the project.
FAQ
Is Royal 400 a new data center?
No. The application identifies an existing data center at 4905 North Point Parkway. The current project includes a planned expansion of that existing facility and a proposed on-site utility substation.
How large is the Royal 400 expansion?
The applicant describes a planned approximately 61,000-square-foot expansion of the existing data center.
Has the data-center expansion been approved?
The applicant says the expansion is within the currently permitted data-center square footage under the Royal 400 Master Plan and that land-disturbance permit LDP D230021 has been approved for it.
Has Alpharetta approved the Georgia Power substation?
No approval is reflected in the MP-26-13 / CU-26-11 agenda records reviewed for this story. Those applications have been deferred before consideration.
Why was Royal 400 deferred?
The records reviewed by BBDN do not state the reason. The application packet shows that the advertised request was still being adjusted immediately before one scheduled review, but BBDN has not confirmed whether that played a role in any deferral.
Where is Royal 400?
The property is at 4905 North Point Parkway, Alpharetta, Georgia, near Kimball Bridge Road.
Primary documents reviewed
- Royal 400 MP-26-13 / CU-26-11 application packet filed with the City of Alpharetta
- Applicant letter of intent dated August 3, 2026
- September 2-3, 2026 email concerning the advertised application scope
- Royal 400 submitted site plan
- Alpharetta Planning Commission agenda for September 3, 2026
- Alpharetta City Council agenda records for July 20 and September 14, 2026