A tech developer seeking to build a data center next to the Nashville Zoo is suing the Nashville government over the Metro Council’s recent passage of a moratorium on permits for the tech facilities.
Atlanta-based digital infrastructure company DC BLOX filed a federal lawsuit against Metro on Aug. 11, alleging the temporary pause on permits was a “targeted attack” against the company.
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The council on July 21 unanimously approved the moratorium, a measure that pauses all data center permits until Dec. 1. At that same meeting, the council also passed strict regulations related to data center construction, location and operations. This followed several months of public outcry over the proposed data center near the Nashville Zoo as well as a data center planned on the campus of Fisk University. In addition, the council approved a piece of condemnation legislation Aug. 4 that would allow Metro to use eminent domain to seize control of the zoo-area property for public use. DC BLOX paid $23 million for the property in late July.
The lawsuit calls these actions a “part of Metro’s relentless efforts to prohibit DC BLOX’s lawful and vested use of its property as a data center.”
The complaint further argues that DC BLOX's proposed data center was unfairly targeted, citing public statements made by Mayor Freddie O’Connell and District 26 Councilmember Courtney Johnston (who represents the Nashville Zoo area) opposing the project. It also references a June 12 phone call made by then-Metro legal director Wally Dietz, who “stated that Metro would do whatever it could to ensure that the DC BLOX Project was not developed,” the lawsuit reads.
DC BLOX also alleges that other data center facilities in Nashville have not been subject to the same “extraordinary measures” imposed on the company’s zoo-area proposal.
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“Despite the prohibitive language against all data centers, council specifically and intentionally targeted plaintiff’s vested project and used ‘every tool’ and ‘every avenue’ it could to deny or delay the project,” the lawsuit reads, alleging the conduct violates the Fifth and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
The legal complaint also notes that the property was previously leased to tech and insurance company Asurion, which used the property as an office and data center. Previous reporting by Scene sister publication the Nashville Post notes Asurion's headquarters was located in the building, but the company eventually consolidated to its North Gulch office. It is unclear what kind of data storage the company undertook at the site.
DC BLOX is seeking declaratory and injunctive relief that would block Metro from enforcing the prohibitive data center measures. The company is also seeking financial damages to be paid by Metro. Law firm Thompson Burton is representing DC BLOX.
This article was first published by our sister publication, the Nashville Post.
