DC Blox Backpedals on Scope of Palm Coast AI Data Center

The DC Blox company has released a statement clarifying the scope of their AI data center in Palm Coast’s Town Center. Confusion arose following a statement from their own executive. VP of Marketing and Product Management William Thomson claimed on WNZF that DC Blox was working toward a facility of approximately 100,000 square feet. This greatly exceeded their approved project size of 33,760. “As customer demand grows and additional subsea cables are contracted for, DC Blox anticipates submitting a future permit application for a second building,” the company said. “The total capacity of the campus will be below our conservative original estimate of 100,000 square feet. We have not finalized the design of our second building at this time, and it has always been our plan that any permit we filed in the future would be subject to the City’s applicable review procedures and requirements.” The company’s statement contains a number of presumptions based on the speculative progression of their data center’s operations. DC Blox takes the growth of customer demand as a given despite documented public resistance to data centers, and discounts the looming possibility of a local moratorium on the centers’ development. They also reassured residents they planned to work within the city’s application process, when in reality they would be legally required to in order to start a project anywhere near the scope Thomson suggested. Furthermore, characterizing a 100,000 square foot estimate as ‘conservative’ conflates with their professed intent to stay below that size. DC Blox also mentioned ongoing meetings with Palm Coast city officials dating back to March 2023. Despite this apparent long-running stream of communication, the City of Palm Coast was seemingly blindsided by Thomson’s ambitions. City Council member Ty Miller, who was a part of the radio interview where the 100,000 foot estimate was debuted, said that was the first he’d heard of it. The city government released a statement reiterating to residents that DC Blox was approved for no more than 33,760 feet – around one third the size of what the company was directly telling the public. The statement then pivoted to the company’s own transparency. DC Blox says it has given ‘media interviews in the local area’. They touted the City of Palm Coast’s own communication efforts as a virtue of their own company. The company claimed to have “made efforts to publicly disclose our intentions”, backing this up with a website URL, www.dcbloxpalmcoast.com, that doesn’t work. Entering the web address with ‘www.’ excluded appears to remedy their error. “DC Blox appreciates the community’s concerns expressed regarding our facility in Palm Coast and appreciates the opportunity to bring clarity on our projects,” the statement continued. “We strive to be good neighbors in all the communities we serve and are proud to invest in Palm Coast and bring this critical global infrastructure to the region.” DC Blox’s Full Statement Text