Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s bid to seize a Nashville Zoo-adjacent property, the site of a proposed data center, by way of eminent domain received its final stamp of approval.
Council members voted to approve O’Connell’s bill Aug. 5 by a 27-5 vote, with Joy Smith Kimbrough, Jeff Eslick, Ginny Welsch, Brandon Taylor and Joy Styles opposed.
“Tonight, I’m glad Metro Council passed our legislation that gives us the option to acquire property next to the zoo for a number of public needs,” O’Connell said in a statement after the vote. “We’re working closely with our Finance and General Services departments to plan for the site. We’ll now proceed with the legal process to buy the property and protect the interests of Metro and Nashvillians.”
Several council
members voiced concerns about the move.
Eslick warned of a potential legal battle and Styles, who’s running against O’Connell in the 2027 mayoral race, called the bill “performative.” Welsch said it was a “gross misuse of the power of condemnation,” and Courtney Johnston, though she ultimately voted in favor of the bill, said it does not inherently stop a data center being built on the property.
“This is an important bill, but it’s also one of the most consequential things that we’ve ever voted on, or that I’ve ever voted on in my seven years,” Johnston said ahead of the vote. “But I do want to make it clear that, assuming this bill passes, this is not a direction for condemnation. This is an authorization, and it is out of our hands at that point. We are entrusting Metro Legal in consultation with the mayor’s office to make a good decision for everyone involved, including the taxpayers that will be writing the ultimate check.”
The O’Connell administration first announced its intent to take control of the property at 648 Grassmere Park in late June, following nearly a month of outcry from Nashvillians.
Opposition has been persistent since plans for the project became public, stemming particularly from a Change.org petition launched by the Nashville Zoo June 3 that rapidly gained hundreds of thousands of signatures.
Atlanta-based digital infrastructure company DC BLOX already owns the property, having completed its purchase from MarketStreet Enterprises July 16 for $23 million.
According to Davidson County property records, the latest appraised value — the Davidson County assessor of property’s estimate of a fair market value — at 648 Grassmere Park is more than $37 million. Council staff analysis of the mayor’s condemnation bill notes that it’ll be necessary to perform a new appraisal if the property’s taken for public use.
But the data center project has hit some snags since then.
First, council members voted unanimously to adopt two pieces of data center-related legislation: Nashville’s first-ever set of zoning regulations for data centers, and a moratorium halting any new data center development through Dec. 1.
Then, Nashville Zoo officials on July 23 turned down an agreement that would’ve allowed DC BLOX to construct its planned 69,000-square-foot data center in exchange for striking plans for a larger expansion down the line and returning a portion of the property at 648 Grassmere Park to the zoo for future development.
Austin Hornbostel is the Metro reporter for The Tennessean. Have a question about local government you want an answer to? Reach him at ahornbostel@tennessean.com.
Get Davidson County news delivered to your inbox every Wednesday.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville Council passes mayor's bid to acquire zoo-adjacent property
