DC Blox closes on property near Nashville zoo
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DC Blox closed on Thursday on the purchase of the property near the Nashville Zoo where it intends to build a data center.
Why it matters: The project has faced tremendous public pushback and government roadblocks, leading opponents to hope the data center firm would walk away from the deal.
- Instead, DC Blox appears to be trudging forward.
The latest: The sale from real estate company MarketStreet to DC Blox for the 23.49-acre property was for $23 million.
- An attorney for DC Blox tells Axios the company alerted with Zoo leadership prior to closing. The firm also filed a new building permit application as the new owners of the property, attorney Doug Sloan said.
Between the lines: MarketStreet entered into the agreement to sell the property before the uproar about the 10-megawatt data center created a public furor. The zoo has worried the sound from the data center could upset and perhaps harm some of its animals.
- A MarketStreet representative said the company did not have the unilateral power to prevent the purchase.
Zoom out: DC Blox has an array of legal and bureaucratic hurdles to clear before its project is official.
- Metro Council is set to vote next week on the final readings for two bills — one to impose a moratorium on new data centers in Nashville and another to create an array of new regulations.
- It's unclear how those policies would directly affect the DC Blox project since it was already in the pipeline before the legislation was introduced. The project would be considered a midsized data center based on the new regulations that council is about to pass.
- Two appeals challenging the zoning designation of the property as office use are also pending at the Board of Zoning Appeals. The board's ruling could delay or even skewer DC Blox's plans.
Friction point: Then there's the eminent domain legislation filed by Mayor Freddie O'Connell's administration. O'Connell wants to condemn the land and take it for Metro to use instead of the data center.
- That legal fight could be costly and time consuming.