Missouri just placed one of the largest bets in the country on digital infrastructure, with roughly $25 billion in data center projects either announced or in the pipeline across the state. The centerpiece: a $15 billion Google campus and a $10 billion Amazon Web Services facility, both slated for Montgomery County.

The City of St. Louis approved a conditional use permit on April 21 for a $1.5 billion Armory Innovation Data Center that explicitly prohibits leasing space primarily to crypto-mining tenants.

The details: railroads, but make them digital

Google’s Montgomery County project will rank among the company’s largest data centers ever built. Amazon’s facility in the same county is expected to create over 400 permanent jobs. A statewide tracker lists 13 proposed projects with combined investments exceeding $25 billion.

The Armory Innovation Data Center in St. Louis proper is a $1.5 billion facility with 120 megawatts of capacity. It’s projected to generate approximately $432 million in tax revenue over ten years and create around 200 jobs.

That permit came with strings attached. Beyond the crypto-mining ban, the conditions include a $15 million community benefits agreement designed to ensure the surrounding neighborhood sees tangible returns from having a massive compute facility in its backyard.

Why crypto got uninvited

St. Louis codified the distinction between AI and crypto workloads directly into its zoning conditions rather than implementing a blanket moratorium on all data center activity.

What this means for crypto and AI investors

The job numbers tell their own story. Across all 13 proposed data center projects in Missouri, fewer than 300 permanent positions are expected statewide. The economic argument for these projects rests almost entirely on tax revenue and the secondary ecosystem effects of hosting major tech companies.