While the construction of data centers in the U.S. has received significant opposition, some people have cashed in, becoming newly minted millionaires after selling their land to developers.
More than 70% of Americans don’t want data centers in their area, according to a recent Gallup poll, citing concerns like noise, environmental impacts and the strain such projects can put on local communities. But for Michael Hodgson, being asked to sell his land so a data center could be built in Salem Township, Pennsylvania, “felt like winning the lottery.”
Hodgson, 38, bought a home in the rural community of 4,000 people in 2019. The construction worker thought he “was going to be that guy that died on a job site someday.” Then he was offered millions for his 14-acre property, making nearly 60 times what he paid. The opportunity allowed him to retire, Hodgson said.
“It’s easy to look from the outside looking in and say ‘Oh, these guys are sellouts,’ but, I mean, who wouldn’t jump at the opportunity, you know, to create generational wealth?” Hodgson said.
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He isn’t the only one in the area who’s gotten this kind of opportunity. Nearly 100 families in Salem Township sold more than 1,700 acres combined to a data center developer this year. Families made anything from $1 million to more than $35 million, with the developer paying $586 million for the entire parcel of land, or over $300,000 an acre.
Land in the area was worth less than $5,000 an acre two years ago, and “a lot of folks felt stuck here,” said Hodgson. But the data center boom created a “gold rush,” according to Jack Sordoni, a land developer and Salem Township native who helped organize the sale.
“We’re tired of watching things leave Salem Township,” Sordoni said. He said that the deal includes “community benefits agreements” worth millions of dollars that “improve fire, police, emergency services, medical services, water, sewer, education.”
Another deal for a data center expansion is underway, Sordoni said, potentially benefiting more than 200 additional families in the area.
Sordoni also said that 80% of the families who sold their land plan to stay local, giving the community an additional economic boost. One of those families is the Kilitis. David and Marilee Kiliti spent years working multiple jobs to support their 89-acre farm. After selling their land for more than $20 million, they are building their dream home in Salem Township, while their daughter reopens a shuttered local brewery.
“For years, the town’s been run down. This helps a lot of people, not just the people that got the money. I’m talking about the whole town, the whole area,” said David Kiliti.
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Data centers hold storage drives, networked computer servers and other technology that process everything from email traffic to software. Demand for such services has spiked in the AI era.
Not everyone in the state is excited about the data center boom. Pennsylvania recently imposed some of the country’s strictest rules on data centers. Gov. Josh Shapiro, who previously championed such projects, told CBS News in August that his executive order was issued in response to concerns from state residents.
“I showed up in communities and heard the concerns of neighbors,” Shapiro said. “I don’t want things that the community is not going to want in their backyards.”
But if a developer has “a serious proposal that enjoys the support of the local community, that protects our environment, that generates power,” that’s another matter, Shapiro said.
“Then we’re willing to talk with you and engage with you,” he said. “And that is our plan here in the commonwealth now, with the strictest requirements in the entire country.”
