BRADLEY COUNTY, Tenn. (WDEF)- Data centers have continued to stir debate all across the country.
Now, numerous residents say they are nervous that one could be coming to Bradley County.
I. A peaceful way of life
Much of Northern Bradley County is characterized by rolling farmland.
Larry Nadeau has lived outside of Charleston for six years after moving from Florida.
The peaceful way of life drew his family to this community.
Nadeau said, “We made a lot of friends over the course of the last three years and we kept coming back to Cleveland. We liked it and thought it was a beautiful area.”
Nearby, Cheree Guy said that her family has owned their J and H farm for decades.
The farm featured numerous horses, donkeys, and cattle in wide open pasture.
Guy said that the farm means everything to her family as, “My dad started it back in 1982. My sister and I have kind of taken the business over and this is just the way of life.”
II. Letter raises concerns
However they, along with numerous neighbors, are alarmed following a letter that states a data center is being proposed behind Walker Valley High School on a large piece of property.
The property pointed out by neighbors, listed as being on Maddux Road, is listed as 251 acres in size according to the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office.
That letter claims the property was sold for $22 million to an unknown company for the purpose of building a “an AI data storage facility”
That idea scares them.
Nadeau said, “This being built in proximity of a high school with thousands of kids with a future middle school being built right next-door, it wouldn’t only affect us, it would affect our kids!”
Guy added, “Our farm is working farm and we produce honey off of here every year. So imagine what it’s gonna do to all the pollinators.”
Bradley County Mayor Gary Davis says in a statement that there have been no official proposals submitted to the county.
Mayor Davis states:
“I am NOT IN FAVOR of this in our community. Here are the facts about where we are in the process.
Over the last several days, there has been a great deal of discussion on social media about a proposed AI data center in the Charleston community. I want to address that discussion with the facts as we know them today.
At this time, no specific project has been formally submitted to Bradley County for approval or denial. No application has been filed, no formal request has been made, and no vote on any specific facility is scheduled before the Planning Commission or the County Commission.”
We took a look into the record associated with the property in question behind Walker Valley High School.
The 251 acre property on Maddux Road several neighbors told News 12 they believe is being developed is owned by a company named SDCL Tennessee Prop LLC according to Tennessee Comptroller records.
They are listed as having an address in Newark, Delaware according to those property tax records.
That address according to New Castle County, Delaware property records is owned by Creek View Road Associates II LLC.
Upon searching that address on Google Maps’ Street View, an office building appears at that address.
The suite that corresponds with the address listed on the Comptrollers’ website belongs to “The Incorporators/Universal Registered Agents” on the sign out front of that building visible from Street View.
From there we discovered a business called The Incorporators, Limited that lists the very same address as SDCL Tennessee Prop LLC on their website.
They provide various services that include according to their About Us page, “(We) have assisted our clients in the formations, legal filings, and representation of business entities varying in size; from the single business owner, to small businesses, to big corporations, to Fortune 500 companies and everything in between.”
It is worth noting that according to the state of Delaware, 81.4% of all initial public offerings created in 2024 chose to be incorporated in that state.
They say over 2.1 million legal entities are currently incorporated in the state, despite the fact only a little over a million people live in The First State according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Delaware’s Secretary of State Charuni Patibunda-Sanchez said, “Delaware’s reputation as the corporate capital of the world is backed by its expert judiciary, business-friendly legal system, and flexible corporate and alternative entity statutes.”
Effectively, this means a lot of businesses that are incorporated in Delaware are not actually headquartered in that state.
We have not confirmed what exactly SDCL Tennessee Prop LLC is as an entity.
There is a similarly named London based firm that also is named SDCL that specializes in various projects including data centers.
The letter that was shared around by residents claims the company involved is based in the United Kingdom.
On their website, they describe the data center industry as, “The information and communications technology sector is one the largest and fastest growing energy consuming sectors in the world. Datacentres, which use energy 24/7 are projected to become the largest single user of electricity by the middle of the decade, potentially using more energy than all existing consumer devices combined. Electricity, cooling and backup power are all critical services in the operations of datacentres.”
We have reached out to this company to confirm whether or not they are associated with SDCL Tennessee Prop LLC, but have not heard back at the time of publishing.
We also discovered a webpage from the firm Cushman and Wakefield titled “Project Tennessee”.
Cushman and Wakefield say on the page, “Cushman & Wakefield is pleased to offer for sale the 100% fee simple interest in Project Tennessee (the “property”), a 251-acre parcel in Charleston, TN, 45 miles northeast of Chattanooga, TN. Power study results are expected within 6 to 8 months with early indications suggesting 450 MW of capacity by 2030.”
A graphic on that page states that the project could support “251 acres of Powered Data Center Land”.
The size of the property listed on this page matches the size and location of the property on Maddux Road listed by the Tennessee Comptroller owned by SDCL Tennessee Prop LLC.
We have not confirmed whether this listing by Cushman and Wakefield is connected to SDCL Tennessee Prop LLC.
There is also an agreement that interested contributors to the project can sign on the page.
Cushman and Wakefield according to their website say they are, “a full-service global commercial real estate company with over 100 years of experience, 52,000 professionals and 400 offices worldwide. We are driven to solve complex problems, and we have the expertise and experience to bring solutions to life.”
We have reached out to Cushman and Wakefield for comment on this page for this property, but have not heard back as of publishing time.
It is still unclear what is exactly planned for this property.
IV. Bradley County wrestling with data centers
Earlier this week, the Bradley County Commission discussed new zoning regulations related to data centers, saying that as of now, they have no guidance.
Commissioner Milan Blake of District 3 said urgently, “It is important that we get this right because from what I understand, data centers are coming.”
Officials stated while there is not an exact proposal coming in front of the board yet, there have been eyes on Bradley County.
Doug Berry, the Vice President of the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce said, “There have been several companies that have been analyzing sites in this community and basically everywhere that there are large power lines for data center locations. It’s kind of the Wild West from our perspective.”
He added that, “Data centers that I think everyone are talking about will never connect to a local utility. They have such scale that they would be direct served by party like TVA and TVA has a policy in place today that any potential customer over 5 megawatts, which isn’t a large load from an industrial standpoint, requires a power study where TVA determines how and when it can serve it. They’re not committing to serve anything about 5 megawatts.”
Mayor Davis in his statement said:
“What is before the County Commission on Monday is a discussion about zoning rules and regulations as they relate to projects of this type. That discussion is about reviewing our current zoning framework and considering how the county should approach potential future development, not about approving or rejecting a particular project.
I understand why there are questions and concerns, especially from residents in the Charleston area. As both County Mayor and as someone who lives in that community, I take those concerns seriously. Quality of life, the character of the community, and the impact on surrounding property owners all matter and deserve careful consideration.
At the same time, we must also respect the rights of private property owners and the importance of following a fair, legal, and transparent process for any project that may one day be presented.Right now, I would encourage everyone to focus on the facts and not speculation. There is a lot of misinformation and rumor circulating online, and I believe it is important to be careful, measured, and truthful about what is and is not happening.If and when a specific proposal is formally submitted to the county, it should be evaluated through the proper public process, with the facts, details, and impacts clearly laid out for everyone to see. Until then, Monday’s discussion is about zoning considerations only, not a decision on a specific AI data center.”
For neighbors, they are just hoping their way of life remains peaceful.
Nadeau said, “It’s all a big wall of you know nothing but controversy and unknowns… We’re already settled out here with some heavy industry. We paid our dues in this area. A month and a half ago we had a shelter in place order because of a leak down the street from here and now you want to build an all consuming place with very little supervision or oversight? It’s not fair.”
Guy looking over her farm added, “How could we stop this? How can we make sure this doesn’t happen because I don’t think this is the best thing for this community.”
The Bradley County Commission will vote on their new data center regulations on Monday at noon, as numerous residents say they plan to attend.
