Florida data center developers host open house to praise benefits

INDIANTOWN – Residents came seeking answers to what could be a significant industry and generate an estimated $44 million to the sleepy town, but could also have major impacts on the character, environment and health of the small rural community.

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Panattoni Development Company, Inc. and its partner Ferreira Construction held an open house Sept. 21 at the Outpost Bar and Grille to inform residents about plans to build a hyperscale data center called Project Silver Fox, named after the road it will be built along, Silver Fox Road, and discuss the project’s economic impact and job-creation potential.

Panattoni and Ferreira would gain the needed government approvals and build the project and then sell it to Cruz AI, a joint business venture of Google and the private equity firm Blackstone, according to Adam Kramer a managing partner with Panattoni and oversees the company’s data center development.

The project would generate $44 million a year alone in local utility franchise taxes and millions in property taxes a year, Kramer said. The project would need roughly 3,000 workers to build it and and 300 employees to staff it, he said.

Indiantown data center developers address residents’ concerns

The data center would be placed on 606 acres, with only roughly 34% of the land for the facility itself, Kramer said. The remaining 66% would be undeveloped, Kramer said. The property is best suited for a data center because the property is already zoned industrial, he said.

“This is a community with heavy industrial roots,” Kramer said, referring to the Florida Steel Corporation operations there from 1970 to 1982. “It has a heavy industrial history.”

Kramer held the open house to dispel myths about AI projects such as, noise and water and energy consumption, as his company is currently developing four data centers in Ohio, one in Michigan and another Barcelona Spain, he said. Panattoni and Ferreira setup various stations with its experts to answer questions about the size and scope of the project, water and energy consumption and noise.

Project Silver Fox would use a minimal amount of water because cooling the equipment would be done through a closed-loop water system where a sealed piping network of water or coolant circulates continuously to absorb and transfer heat without being exposed to outside air or constantly replenished, Kramer said. The facility would be cooled through a traditional air conditioning system.

Project Silver Fox would be a 1-gigawatt data center that consumes or requires 1,000 megawatts of continuous electrical power, Kramer said.

“I came here to get answers like everyone,” Indiantown Mayor Phyllis Waters Brown said. “I want to know. I feel more informed. I am not for or against. I have an open mind.”

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“I feel more informed, but more importantly, a lot of people are more informed,” interim Village Manager Michael Giardino added.

Not everyone walked away convinced data centers are not a health or environmental impact.

“I still hate the idea,” said Carroll McAllister, who owns a herd a cattle within 3/4 of a mile of the center. “It’s the noise. It’s the water. It’s the light.”

The open house came as the Indiantown Village Council is expected to take its first of two required votes on a one-year data-center moratorium in October. Kramer contends a data center use is allowed because of the current indutrial zoning and his company would fight the moratorium.

Three council incumbents were unseated in the Aug. 18 primary election, shifting the balance of power to a coalition of data-center skeptics. Christa Miley defeated former Mayor Carmine Dipaolo, and former Village Council members Anthony Dowling and Janet Hernandez unseated Angelina Perez and Karen Onsager.

Tim O’Hara is TCPalm’s Martin County watchdog, environment and fisheries reporter. Contact him at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Florida data center developers host open house to praise benefits

Reporting by Timothy O’Hara, Treasure Coast Newspapers / Treasure Coast Newspapers

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This story was originally published September 21, 2026 at 9:25 PM.