FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) — The City of Fort Wayne held a news conference Tuesday where Mayor Tom Henry discussed annexing hundreds of acres of land for a “proposal that could lead to a major economic development project in the community.”

Although details were limited, Mayor Henry discussed a Fortune 100 company that recently submitted applications for a data center in Allen County.

Earlier this month, the unnamed Fortune 100 company “that operates data center campuses globally” submitted applications to both the Fort Wayne and Allen County plan commissions for Project Zodiac, a “data center campus” that would span 892 acres bounded by East Tillman Road, Adams Center Road and railroad tracks.

Only around 170 acres of the proposed development site is located within Fort Wayne city limits, so the City of Fort Wayne plans to propose a “super voluntary annexation” that would have all remaining real estate within the development site be annexed into the City of Fort Wayne at the company’s request.

According to the City of Fort Wayne, an annexation petition contains signatures from all landowners in the area, and the area proposed for annexation contains only a few residential homes.

WANE 15 spoke with a resident that will put the new data center campus in his backyard.

Fort Wayne City Council will look at the annexation ordinance and fiscal plan resolution when they are introduced during a City Council meeting later in October.

Multiple members of the Community Development Division joined Mayor Henry during the press conference.

The announcement comes less than a month before the 2023 municipal general election where Mayor Henry is seeking an unprecedented fifth term. He’s opposed by Republican Tom Didier who currently serves on City Council.