Pappert: O’Connell’s Plan to Block DC BLOX Data Center Could Set Dangerous Precedent in Progressive Governance

Kaitlin Housler
Nashville Zoo

Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, warned that Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s plan to use eminent domain to acquire property near the Nashville Zoo and block a planned private data center could represent the beginning of a broader trend in how progressive local governments use condemnation powers.

Appearing on Tuesday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, Pappert discussed O’Connell’s proposal, announced Monday, to condemn property reportedly under contract to be sold by MarketStreet to DC BLOX for conversion into a data center.

“There is a company that owns some real estate, it’s called Market Street, a major developer in Nashville, and they happen to own some property near the Nashville Zoo. That property is reportedly under contract to be sold to another company by the name of DC Blocks for the purpose of changing it slightly, modifying it, potentially adding onto it, and making it into a data center,” Pappert said.

Noting that concerns have been raised about the potential impact of the facility on the nearby zoo, Pappert said O’Connell has made clear that his decision to pursue eminent domain is directly tied to stopping the proposed development.

“Mayor Freddie O’Connell has now interjected himself into this conversation. He said yesterday, it is now confirmed, he plans to use eminent domain law, the city’s ability to acquire property for public use, in order to acquire this building and prevent the data center from being built. And he said that this is directly in response to the idea that they’re going to put a data center so close to the zoo,” he explained.

Pappert questioned whether the proposed acquisition satisfies the constitutional and statutory requirement that eminent domain be exercised for a genuine public use.

He said, “A major problem with this when it comes to the law, as I understand it, and what I’m confident this company’s attorneys will say, is what is the public use?”

Noting that O’Connell has said the property could house Metro offices, including portions of the Nashville Fire Department, the Nashville Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure, and other city services, Pappert argued those stated purposes may not justify taking the property.

“It seems to me there is no clear public use. They could rent any office in the greater Nashville metropolitan area, which is what they’ve done in the past, by the way. They have city offices that aren’t even at a Nashville address. They’ll be at another address that’s still in Davidson County. I think it’s going to be a major issue,” he argued.

Pappert compared O’Connell’s proposal to recent rhetoric from New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist.

“This comes as his counterpart, Freddie O’Connell’s counterpart in New York City, Mayor Mamdani, is threatening to use eminent domain in a similar fashion, to essentially punish landlords that he deems to be problematic,” he said.

Pappert said he believes these developments represent more than isolated incidents.

“I think what we’re seeing is the beginning of a pattern…We’re seeing it play out in Nashville; we’re seeing it play out in New York,” he stressed.

Watch:

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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
Photo “Nashville Zoo” by Michael Hicks. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

 

 

 

 

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