Data center profile · 3250 S. Locust Grove Road, near Locust Grove and Barker Roads, Kuna, Ada County, Idaho

Gemstone Technology Park (Kuna)

Diode Ventures' 620-acre, single-user data-center park south of Boise in Kuna, Idaho, rezoned by a mayor's tie-breaking vote in 2025, now under court review and still without a power contract

Rezoned, under court review. Kuna's council approved the plan amendment and rezone 3-2 on Apr. 1, 2025, with the mayor breaking the tie, and a petition for judicial review followed. No site plan, building permit or executed Idaho Power service agreement is on record.
620 acres
campus site
rezoned from agriculture to light industrial (press)
Up to 5
buildings planned
phased over about a decade (press)
3-2
council vote to rezone
Mayor Joe Stear broke the tie
executed power contract with Idaho Power
per intervenor filings in a 2026 rate case
OperatorDiode Ventures (a Black & Veatch company), through Gemstone Technology Park, LLC
CustomerNone named; planned as a single-user campus
First building in serviceOur estimate: 2029 or later (no dated power path yet).
Next stepCourt review of the rezone pending; outcome not on record
Power

Power and the grid

Sources on record, size not disclosed

Getting on the grid

Permits

Permits checklist

1 contested · 1 granted · 2 checked, nothing on file

City approvals on record and what has not yet been filed.

Risks

What could slow it down

Lawsuits

1 case on record

Money

Money on record

$2.3M
donation to Kuna School District over 10 years
revised MOU, July 2025; up from $500,000 Local government · July 2025
~$32M
fire district mitigation the applicant described
about half in the first three years; no executed agreement found News report · April 2025
~$10M
policing payments the applicant described
rising to about $12M with inflation adjustment News report · April 2025
$1B
project size in press roundups
Diode has not published an investment figure News report · April 2025
Timeline

What happened, and what is due

SitePaper trailConstructionPowerPermitsMoneyLegalUpcoming
  1. July 16, 2024
    Money City approves a water and wastewater feasibility cost agreement with Gemstone Technology Park, LLC Local government · July 2024
  2. Jan. 2025
    Money School board authorizes a $500,000 contribution agreement with Diode News report · Jan. 2025
  3. Jan. 28, 2025
    Permits Planning and Zoning Commission recommends approval News report · Jan. 2025
  4. April 1, 2025
    Permits City Council approves the rezone 3-2, Mayor Joe Stear breaking the tie, over neighbors' objections News report · April 2025
  5. July 8, 2025
    Money School board approves a revised $2.3M donation over 10 years Local government · July 2025
  6. Sept. 2026
    Power Irrigators in Idaho Power's rate case cite Gemstone as a load with no executed service agreement News report · Sept. 2026
The buildings

Specs

M-1
light industrial zoning, rezoned from agriculture
Local government · April 2025
100+ jobs
permanent, with 800 to 1,200 during construction (applicant)
News report · Jan. 2025
Who is involved

Owners, partners and builders

Owners
  • Diode Ventures (Black & Veatch): developer
  • Gemstone Technology Park, LLC: project company
  • Yamamoto: co-applicant (full name not stated)
Decision-makers
  • Kuna City Council and Mayor Joe Stear
  • Kuna Planning and Zoning Commission
  • Ada County District Court: judicial review
  • Idaho Public Utilities Commission: large-load contracts
Power partners
  • Idaho Power: serving utility, substation work
Opponents
  • Neighbors along Locust Grove and Cloverdale roads
  • Irrigators intervening in Idaho Power's rate case (on contract safeguards)
Still unknown

Open questions

Where this comes from

50 records from 14 documents

Drawn from news reports, local government records and public and commercial datasets, each kept with its date and source. The bar shows documents by type.

News report 10Local government 3Dataset 1
Evidence

Every quote behind this page

Grade key: A = the primary record itself (permit, filing, exhibit) · B = a dated official statement · C = news reporting. Map distances are our own measurements on OpenStreetMap and carry no grade. Allegations in lawsuits are marked as such in the quotes.

Power (5)
  • Secondary coverage places Gemstone's full build in the 600-800 MW range, attributed to public testimony and technical summaries; a separate tracker estimate puts critical load at 100-200 MW
    “public testimony and technical summaries place Gemstone's full build in the 600–800 MW range”
    News report · Oct. 2026 · grade C
  • Figures of 600-800 MW circulate in commentary for Gemstone, and one aggregator table shows ~150 MW. None is backed by a utility or developer document. NO mw utility is supported for this campus; the only regulatory recor
    “Staff computed from the company's own resource plan that the large-load class goes from 258 average megawatts in 2026 to 875 in 2030.”
    News report · Oct. 2026 · grade C
  • In Idaho Power's large-load rate proceedings (IPUC case IPC-E-26-07), intervenor irrigators named the Diode Ventures Gemstone Technology Park as a load where no executed energy service agreement or binding contractual sa
    “The irrigators named the Diode Ventures “Gemstone Technology Park” as a load where “no executed energy service agreement or binding contractual safeguards existed.””
    News report · Sept. 2026 · grade C
  • Serving utility is Idaho Power (Diode's project includes a planned substation and road improvements with Idaho Power per project coverage), and the Kuna City Council approved the Gemstone rezone 3-2 with Mayor Joe Stear
    “the Kuna City Council last week voted 3-2 in favor of the proposed Gemstone Technology Park, with Mayor Joe Stear casting the tie-breaking vote in favor of the project”
    News report · Dec. 2025 · grade C
  • Utility: Idaho Power (applicant working with Idaho Power on interconnection studies and substation work
    “the developer intends to work with Idaho Power on substation work.”
    News report · Jan. 2025 · grade C
Money and contracts (9)
  • Announced: July 16, 2024
    “AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO EXECUTE THE WATER AND WASTEWATER SERVICE FEASABILITY COST REIMBURSEMENT AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF KUNA AND GEMSTONE TECHNOLOGY PARK, LLC”
    Local government · July 2024 · grade A
  • Water and wastewater service feasibility cost reimbursement agreement: cost reimbursement (feasibility study)
    “AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO EXECUTE THE WATER AND WASTEWATER SERVICE FEASABILITY COST REIMBURSEMENT AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF KUNA AND GEMSTONE TECHNOLOGY PARK, LLC”
    Local government · July 2024 · grade A
  • Memorandum of understanding / contribution agreement (revised): contribution 2300000 USD over 10 years
    “Trustees approved a revised memorandum of understanding with Diode Ventures for a $2.3 million donation to the district to be paid over 10 years.”
    Local government · July 2025 · grade B
  • Secondary coverage criticises the approval process as negotiated under NDAs and code names with details withheld, comparing it to Meta's earlier Kuna entry; the school district's initial $500,000 contribution was later r
    “Diode Ventures (a subsidiary of Black & Veatch) secured rezoning for a 620-acre, billion-dollar data center campus under the same shroud of NDAs, code names, and withheld details”
    News report · Oct. 2026 · grade C
  • Press roundups describe Gemstone as a proposed $1 billion project (Diode's own materials in the sources checked do not publish an investment figure); local coverage also reports more than $40 million in pledged contribut
    “Diode Ventures' proposed $1 billion Gemstone Technology Park are showcased as proof”
    News report · April 2025 · grade C
  • Tenant status: single-user campus; no end user / tenant named in any source retrieved
    “the project would be a single-user, low-intensity industrial campus”
    News report · April 2025 · grade C
  • Mitigation payments described by the applicant at the Apr 1, 2025 hearing (instruments not retrieved): mitigation package (applicant-described) 32000000 USD (estimated, about half front-loaded to the first three years)
    “an estimated mitigation package for the rural fire district near $32 million, with approximately half of those payments front-loaded to the first three years”
    News report · April 2025 · grade C
  • Mitigation payments described by the applicant at the Apr 1, 2025 hearing (instruments not retrieved): annual policing payments (applicant-described) 10000000 USD (roughly, rising to about $12 million with a cost-of-livi
    “proposed annual payments to the city for policing (described in presentations as roughly $10 million with a cost-of-living adjustment bringing that to about $12 million over time)”
    News report · April 2025 · grade C
  • Memorandum of understanding / contribution agreement (original): contribution 500000 USD
    “a memorandum of agreement with Kuna School District for a $500,000 contribution (the district's board voted to authorize the MOU in January 2025)”
    News report · Jan. 2025 · grade C
Permits and government (14)
  • Zoning: M-1 (Light Industrial/Manufacturing) from A (Agriculture); future land use designation changed from agriculture to industrial
    “changing the future land use designation of the subject site from agriculture to industrial and a rezone from the A (Agriculture) to M-1 (Light Industrial/Manufacturing) zone.”
    Local government · April 2025 · grade A
  • Project status: approved - Kuna City Council voted 3-2 (mayor tie-break) for the comprehensive plan amendment and rezone, spring 2025; no construction reported
    “the Kuna City Council last week voted 3-2 in favor of the proposed Gemstone Technology Park, with Mayor Joe Stear casting the tie-breaking vote”
    News report · April 2025 · grade C
  • Neighbors along Locust Grove and Cloverdale roads opposed on traffic, groundwater/wastewater and school-capacity grounds at the council hearing; approval carried conditions (Locust Grove as secondary/emergency access onl
    “Opponents — many of them neighbors along Locust Grove and Cloverdale roads — warned the council that construction traffic, long-term vehicle trips, groundwater and wastewater use”
    News report · April 2025 · grade C
  • Project status: Comprehensive plan map amendment and rezone APPROVED by the Kuna City Council on Apr 1, 2025 (3-2, Mayor Stear casting the tie-breaking vote); a petition for judicial review of the approval is pending (Ad
    “the Kuna City Council last week voted 3-2 in favor of the proposed Gemstone Technology Park, with Mayor Joe Stear casting the tie-breaking vote in favor of the project.”
    News report · April 2025 · grade C
  • Site acres: 620 acres
    “Diode is planning to develop a 620-acre campus near Locust Grove and Barker Roads in Kuna.”
    News report · April 2025 · grade C
  • Water supply: private on-site water and wastewater systems (will not connect to city water or sewer), to be permitted by state agencies
    “will not connect to city water or sewer”
    News report · April 2025 · grade C
  • Approved 3-2 with Mayor Joe Stear casting the tie-breaking vote, after a public : APPROVED the comprehensive plan map amendment (agriculture to industrial) and the rezone to M-1, with conditions
    “The Kuna City Council voted 3-2 to approve a comprehensive plan map amendment and rezone for a proposed data center campus called Gemstone Technology Park”
    News report · April 2025 · grade C
  • Neighbours along Locust Grove and Cloverdale roads opposed the rezone over construction traffic, long-term vehicle trips, groundwater and wastewater use and strain on school capacity; the approval was by a single (tie-br
    “Opponents — many of them neighbors along Locust Grove and Cloverdale roads — warned the council that construction traffic, long-term vehicle trips, groundwater and wastewater use, and strain on school capacity”
    News report · April 2025 · grade C
  • Kuna City Council:
    “The council approved the change with conditions that include a requirement that Locust Grove Road serve only as secondary/emergency access and that the applicant submit a landscape and maintenance plan for a northern buffer.”
    News report · April 2025 · grade C
  • As presented to the city: construction could generate about 800-1,200 jobs during build-out and the campus would eventually support 100+ high-paying permanent jobs; phased over roughly a decade (applicant statements at t
    “construction could generate about 800–1,200 jobs during build-out and the campus would eventually support “100+ high-paying permanent jobs.””
    News report · Jan. 2025 · grade C
  • Recommended Jan 28, 2025 (reported Jan 29 as 'on Tuesday'); staff found the appl: recommended approval of the comprehensive plan map amendment and rezone
    “Kuna City Planning and Zoning Commission on Tuesday recommended that the City Council approve a comprehensive plan map amendment and rezone to allow a data center development the applicant calls Gemstone Technology Park”
    News report · Jan. 2025 · grade C
  • Kuna City Planning & Zoning Commission:
    “staff found the application in compliance with Kuna City code, Idaho code and the Osprey Ridge development agreement and recommended approval subject to the conditions in the staff report.”
    News report · Jan. 2025 · grade C
  • City Attorney Mark Bybee told the council Idaho Rule of Civil Procedure 84 requi: petition for judicial review filed challenging the rezone approval; council later approved settling the record for the court
    “City Attorney Mark Bybee told the council a petition for judicial review challenged the city's approval of a data-center rezone (Diode and Yamamoto applicants).”
    News report · 2025 · grade C
  • Kuna City Council:
    “A petition asking the Kuna City Council to reconsider its approval of the Gemstone Technology Park rezone on conflict-of-interest grounds was presented”
    News report · 2025 · grade C
Site and other (4)
  • County code: 16001
    “FCC Census Block API for site point 43.36,-116.42: Block FIPS 160010105011255; County FIPS 16001, Ada County, Idaho”
    Dataset · Oct. 2026 · grade A
  • Project identity: Gemstone Technology Park, 3250 S. Locust Grove Road (SEC 5, T1N, R1E), near Locust Grove and Barker Roads, Kuna, Ada County, ID; Cases 24-01-CPM (Comprehensive Plan Map Amendment) and 24-01-ZC (Rezone)
    “The site is located at 3250 S Locust Grove Road, SEC 5, T1N, R1E.”
    Local government · April 2025 · grade A
  • Developer: Diode Ventures (a Black & Veatch company); project entity Gemstone Technology Park, LLC
    “Black & Veatch subsidiary Diode Ventures has developed several data center parks around Kansas City”
    News report · April 2025 · grade C
  • Planned buildings: 5 buildings
    “The undeveloped land, at 3250 S. Locust Grove Road, could see up to five buildings developed on the campus.”
    News report · April 2025 · grade C