BlackOwned
← Data Center Research & Watch

Data Center Watch Report · ZIP 37207

Nashville

Davidson

Under constructionZIP 57.2% Blackpop 39,450

Under construction — approved, nearing completion. A second, larger citywide policy fight is live.

Researched: 2026-08-02 · Lead source: Brockovich AI Data Center community map (1 resident report, 2026-06-17) · ZIP demographics: 57.2% Black, pop 39,450 (Census ACS 2023) · County: Davidson (roughly 26% Black — verify at census.gov/quickfacts/davidsoncountytennessee) Status: Under construction — approved, nearing completion. A second, larger citywide policy fight is live.

This report is research, not legal, financial, real-estate, or investment advice.

0. Snapshot

This is the clearest "Black ZIP in a whiter county" pattern in the Tennessee set. ZIP 37207 (North Nashville / Bordeaux / Trinity Hills) is 57.2% Black. Davidson County overall is roughly 26% Black. The data center went to the Black ZIP.

  • Facility: RadiusDC Nashville I, 2902 and 2906 Brick Church Pike, Nashville TN 37207 — Trinity Hills.
  • Size: ~102,500 sq ft, 12 MW of critical power.
  • Timeline: groundbreaking September 2025; opening 2026; reported as nearing completion in 2026.
  • Where it sits: directly across the street from Richard Dinkins Middle School. Neighbors also describe an elementary school across the street from the site.
  • Approvals: RadiusDC went through Metro's rezoning and permitting process and says it secured all necessary city approvals and meets applicable zoning requirements — before Nashville had any data-center-specific rules.
  • The rules came after. On 2026-07-21 Metro Council passed Nashville's first data-center zoning regulations (BL2026-1391 and BL2026-1392) and a permit moratorium through 2026-12-01 (BL2026-1448). The new rules include distance requirements from schools — which the Brick Church Pike project predates.
  • Community concern: water and sewer capacity, noise, proximity to schools, and North Nashville's history of hosting a landfill for decades whose harm surfaced only later.

1. The Facility & Where It Sits

RadiusDC Nashville I ("Trinity Hills")

The border — where it sits

  • Which side of town: North Nashville, in the Trinity Hills / Bordeaux area, north of the Cumberland River. This is the historically Black side of Davidson County.
  • Distance to a school: directly across Brick Church Pike from Richard Dinkins Middle School. Neighbors also cite an elementary school across the street. This is as close a school adjacency as exists in this Tennessee study.
  • Historic burden: residents point to the Bordeaux landfill, which operated in North Nashville for decades and whose harms became clear only years later, as the reason for skepticism about new industrial siting here. Resident Claudia Wright: "North Nashville endured a landfill for decades and only years later we found out how harmful it was." (NewsChannel 5, accessed 2026-08-02)

For context — other Nashville-area projects (not in 37207)

  • DC BLOX Nashville Campus, 648 Grassmere Park (South Nashville, near the Nashville Zoo): two buildings, ~69,220 sq ft plus a ~72,000 sq ft substation; initial NES agreement for 15 MW, plan for 50 MW; NES had reviewed a request of up to 100 MW over eight years, which Mayor Freddie O'Connell said he had "no idea" about. (WPLN; datacentermap, accessed 2026-08-02)
  • Lumen Nashville 3, 2208 9th Ave North (37208), ~40,000 sq ft — see the 37208 report.

2. Public Hearings & Notices

The project

RadiusDC "participated in Metro's rezoning and permitting process" and secured all necessary approvals. The specific case numbers, hearing dates and Council/Planning Commission vote records for the Brick Church Pike rezoning were not found in reachable public sources as of 2026-08-02. They exist — request them (Section 8). Search Metro's legislative portal at nashville.legistar.com and Planning at nashville.gov/departments/planning.

The citywide rules — dates and bill numbers

DateBodyAction
2026-07-08Metro CouncilAdvanced data-center bills; public comment taken (Nashville Banner)
July 2026 (pre-7/21)Metro Planning CommissionRecommended approval of the two zoning proposals plus a backup moratorium (WKRN)
2026-07-21Metro CouncilBL2026-1391 and BL2026-1392 (zoning regulations) passed third reading unanimously. BL2026-1448 (permit moratorium through 2026-12-01) passed. An eminent domain bill passed second reading 27-3 with 5 abstentions. (Nashville Banner; WSMV)

What the new rules do:

  • Distance requirements from sensitive locations including schools
  • Environmental restrictions
  • Ban on the largest data-center categories
  • Required emergency response and power resiliency plans
  • Required power and water usage reporting
  • Annual compliance report disclosure
  • Restrictions on on-site power generation and noise

Nine amendments were adopted (1, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15). Four were rejected (7, 8, 9, 14) — including proposals for stricter compliance monitoring and doubled distance requirements. Lead sponsor of the zoning bills: Council Member Rollin Horton. Moratorium sponsor: Council Member Courtney Johnston. (Nashville Banner, accessed 2026-08-02)

The moratorium runs through 2026-12-01. That is the window in which residents can push for stronger rules before permitting resumes.

3. Power

  • Utility: Nashville Electric Service (NES), a TVA local power company. nespower.com
  • This facility: 12 MW critical power. No specific NES agreement document for the Brick Church Pike site was found as of 2026-08-02.
  • TVA threshold: any single facility requiring 100 MW or more must be reviewed by TVA. At 12 MW, RadiusDC Nashville I falls well below that. (WPLN, accessed 2026-08-02)
  • Regional load: data-center consumption in the TVA region grew from 1.27 million MWh in 2020 to 9.16 million MWh in 2025. (Nashville Banner, accessed 2026-08-02)
  • Rate impact: ThinkTennessee's July 2026 report found residential electric bills in Tennessee areas hosting data centers rose 3.2% from 2023 to 2024, while commercial bills in the same areas fell 0.2%. (NewsChannel 5; report PDF, accessed 2026-08-02)
  • On-site generation: no gas turbines or on-site generation permits are documented for this site. Nashville's new rules restrict on-site power generation for future projects.

4. Water & Drought

  • Utility: Metro Water Services. nashville.gov/departments/water
  • Company statement: RadiusDC says the facility uses a closed-loop cooling system requiring minimal water. (NewsChannel 5, accessed 2026-08-02)
  • Resident question, unanswered publicly: Claudia Wright asked, "Where is the infrastructure for this water? How will it affect our sewage and drinking water?" No public water-use or sewer-capacity study specific to this site was found as of 2026-08-02.
  • New leverage: Nashville's 2026-07-21 rules require power and water usage reporting and annual compliance disclosure — but those apply going forward. Ask Metro Water Services and Council whether they apply to an already-permitted project.
  • Drought: Middle Tennessee saw major improvement through July 2026. Much of Middle Tennessee was removed from drought entirely by mid-July, with remaining moderate drought on the Cumberland Plateau and eastern Midstate. Statewide as of 2026-07-07, ~45% of Tennessee was in active drought. Check the live map at droughtmonitor.unl.edu. (WSMV, 2026-07-16; PlantMaps, accessed 2026-08-02)

5. Population & Who Lives Here

  • ZIP 37207: 57.2% Black; population 39,450 (Census ACS 2023). Covers North Nashville, Bordeaux, Trinity Hills, Haynes Heights.
  • County: Davidson County is roughly 26% Black. 37207 is more than twice as Black as the county it sits in.
  • Historic disinvestment: North Nashville's Black community was cut apart by the routing of Interstate 40 through it in the 1960s, and Bordeaux hosted a landfill for decades whose harms residents say were disclosed only later. That history is the explicit basis for current neighborhood skepticism. (NewsChannel 5, accessed 2026-08-02)
  • ZIP-specific asthma or health-burden data for 37207 was not found as of 2026-08-02. The Metro Public Health Department is the place to ask (Section 8).

6. Money — Abatements, Incentives, Jobs

  • No PILOT, tax abatement, or incentive package for the RadiusDC Brick Church Pike project was found as of 2026-08-02.
  • No permanent job count was found as of 2026-08-02. A 12 MW colocation facility typically employs a small permanent staff — ask RadiusDC and the Council member directly for the number.
  • Nashville-area incentives typically run through the Metro Industrial Development Board and the Nashville Area Chamber / Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development. Ask Metro Finance and the IDB whether any abatement was granted.
  • Public cost side: Metro Council also advanced an eminent domain bill on 2026-07-21 (passed second reading 27-3, 5 abstentions), with Council Member Quin Evans Segall questioning how it would be financed. Follow that bill — it is relevant to how utility and infrastructure costs for data centers get borne.

7. Community Reaction & News Coverage

  • The core objection is process, not just pollution. Resident Claudia Wright told NewsChannel 5 that many neighbors did not realize one of the city's largest data centers was being built in their community, and that neighbors feel their voices are not important "because there's so much money involved."
  • Stated concerns: water and sewer infrastructure, noise, environmental impact, and proximity to schools — with the Bordeaux landfill cited as precedent.
  • Citywide, the opposition worked. Weeks of public opposition produced Nashville's first data-center zoning rules and a permit moratorium on 2026-07-21. Children as well as adults spoke against data centers at planning meetings. (WPLN — "Tennessee communities are blocking data centers. Nashville could be next."; Nashville Banner, accessed 2026-08-02)
  • No lawsuit, notice of intent to sue, or petition specific to the Brick Church Pike facility was found as of 2026-08-02.
  • Newsrooms: WPLN (Nashville Public Radio), Nashville Banner, The Tennessean, NewsChannel 5 (WTVF), WKRN, WSMV, Nashville Scene, Nashville Post, Tennessee Lookout, Axios Nashville.

8. Find Out For Yourself

Metro Council

Metropolitan Council Office — Historic Metro Courthouse, 1 Public Square, Nashville, TN 37201

Named council members on the data-center bills: Rollin Horton (lead sponsor, zoning), Courtney Johnston (moratorium sponsor), Quin Evans Segall, Mike Cortese. Contact them through the Council contact form above.

Planning

Metro Planning Department / Metropolitan Planning Commission

Utilities and environment

  • Nashville Electric Service (NES): nespower.com — ask for the load agreement and interconnection for 2902 Brick Church Pike
  • Metro Water Services: nashville.gov/departments/water — ask about sewer capacity in the Brick Church Pike basin
  • Metro Public Health Department: nashville.gov — ask for asthma and respiratory data by ZIP
  • TVA: tva.com — large-load policy and proposed data-center rate class
  • TDEC (state environment): tn.gov/environment — air permits for backup generators

Newsroom tip lines

WPLN wpln.org · Nashville Banner nashvillebanner.com · NewsChannel 5 newschannel5.com · Tennessee Lookout tennesseelookout.com

Six questions worth asking on the phone

  1. Planning: What is the case number for the 2902/2906 Brick Church Pike rezoning, when was it heard, and was a community meeting notice mailed to residents within the notification radius?
  2. Council member: Do the new distance-from-schools requirements in BL2026-1391/1392 apply to the Brick Church Pike facility, or is it grandfathered? If grandfathered, what conditions can still be imposed?
  3. Council member: What happens on 2026-12-01 when the moratorium lifts? Will there be a second round of stronger rules, including the doubled distance requirement that was rejected as Amendment 14?
  4. NES: What is the contracted electrical load for 2902 Brick Church Pike, and is there a provision to expand it later without new public review?
  5. Metro Water Services: What is the sewer and water capacity impact of this facility, and does "closed-loop cooling" mean zero make-up water or just reduced water?
  6. Metro Public Health / RadiusDC: What is the modeled noise level at the property line facing Richard Dinkins Middle School, and will there be continuous noise monitoring?

9. If You're Thinking About Moving Here

  • The facility is already built and about to open. This is not a hypothetical. Whatever it does — noise, truck traffic, generator testing — will be observable within months. If you can, visit Brick Church Pike near Dinkins Middle School at different times of day before deciding.
  • Scale matters. At 12 MW this is a mid-size colocation facility, not a gigawatt AI campus. It has no gas turbines, and the operator says it uses closed-loop cooling. The Memphis situation is not a fair comparison.
  • What is genuinely unresolved: the water/sewer question residents raised has no public answer; there is no published noise study for the school-facing property line; and there is no confirmed permanent job number.
  • The policy environment just improved. Nashville now has real data-center zoning rules and a permit moratorium through 2026-12-01. Future projects in 37207 face distance requirements from schools, noise limits, restrictions on on-site generation, and mandatory power and water reporting. That is meaningfully stronger protection than Memphis residents have.
  • The pattern to watch: the facility went to the ZIP that is 57.2% Black in a county that is ~26% Black, and it went in before the rules existed. Residents say they were not meaningfully told. Whether that pattern repeats after 2026-12-01 is the thing to keep an eye on.
  • Bills: statewide, residential electric bills rose faster in data-center host areas than commercial ones.

10. Sources

All accessed 2026-08-02.

  1. datacentermap — RadiusDC Nashville I, 2902 Brick Church Pike — https://www.datacentermap.com/usa/tennessee/nashville/radiusdc-nashville-i/
  2. DCD — "RadiusDC announces 12MW Nashville data center in Tennessee" — https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/radiusdc-announces-12mw-nashville-data-center-in-tennessee/
  3. DCD — "RadiusDC breaks ground on 12MW Nashville data center, Tennessee" — https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/radiusdc-breaks-ground-on-12mw-nashville-data-center-tennessee/
  4. Connect CRE — "RadiusDC Building 102K-SF Nashville Data Center" — https://www.connectcre.com/stories/radiusdc-building-102k-sf-nashville-data-center/
  5. CITY NOW NEXT — "RadiusDC Breaks Ground On Urban Data Center In North Nashville" (2025-09-09) — https://citynownext.com/2025/09/09/radiusdc-breaks-ground-on-urban-data-center-in-nashville/
  6. NewsChannel 5 — "A data center debate is growing in North Nashville as one facility nears completion on Brick Church Pike" — https://www.newschannel5.com/news/state/tennessee/north-nashville/a-data-center-debate-is-growing-in-north-nashville-as-one-facility-nears-completion-on-brick-church-pike
  7. WKRN — "Nashville, TN neighborhood questions new data center project" — https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/nashville/nashville-neighborhood-questions-new-data-center-project/
  8. Nashville Banner — "Nashville passes data center zoning and permit moratorium" (2026-07-21) — https://nashvillebanner.com/2026/07/21/nashville-data-center-regulations-moratorium/
  9. Nashville Banner — "Metro Council advances bills related to data centers" (2026-07-08) — https://nashvillebanner.com/2026/07/08/metro-council-data-centers-public-comment/
  10. Nashville Banner — "Metro Council side with mayor on Nashville Entertainment Commission" (2026-07-21 council meeting coverage) — https://nashvillebanner.com/2026/07/21/metro-council-meeting-data-center-zoning-regulations/
  11. WKRN — "Metro Planning Commission backs Nashville's first data center zoning rules, recommends backup moratorium" — https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/nashville/metro-planning-commission-backs-data-center-zoning-rules/
  12. WSMV — "Metro Nashville's city council establishes zoning limits on data centers" (2026-07-22) — https://www.wsmv.com/video/2026/07/22/metro-nashvilles-city-council-establishes-zoning-limits-data-centers/
  13. WSMV — "Metro Council to have third, final vote on Data Center moratorium" (2026-07-21) — https://www.wsmv.com/2026/07/21/metro-council-have-third-final-vote-data-center-moratorium-heres-what-that-means-nashville/
  14. WPLN — "Tennessee communities are blocking data centers. Nashville could be next." — https://wpln.org/post/tennessee-communities-are-blocking-data-centers-nashville-could-be-next/
  15. WPLN — "What DC BLOX's murky plans in Nashville signal for electricity costs, environmental impacts" — https://wpln.org/post/what-dc-bloxs-murky-plans-in-nashville-signal-for-electricity-costs-environmental-impacts/
  16. datacentermap — DC BLOX Nashville Campus, 648 Grassmere Park — https://www.datacentermap.com/usa/tennessee/nashville/dc-blox-nashville-campus/
  17. Nashville Banner — "Data centers drive up electricity costs for Tennessee residents" (2026-07-07) — https://nashvillebanner.com/2026/07/07/tennessee-data-centers-electricity-costs-report/
  18. NewsChannel 5 — "Report: Tennesseans living near data centers see bigger jumps in electricity costs" — https://www.newschannel5.com/news/report-tennesseans-living-near-data-centers-see-bigger-jumps-in-electricity-costs
  19. ThinkTennessee — "Powering the Boom, Part 1" (July 2026 PDF) — https://www.thinktennessee.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/poweringtheboom-part1_report_thinktn_july2026.pdf
  20. Axios Nashville — "Data center electricity use has skyrocketed in Tennessee and beyond" (2026-07-07) — https://www.axios.com/local/nashville/2026/07/07/data-center-electricity-demand-increase-policy
  21. Nashville.gov — Metropolitan Council Office — https://www.nashville.gov/departments/council
  22. Nashville.gov — Contact Council Members — https://www.nashville.gov/departments/council/webform/contact-council-members
  23. Nashville.gov — Metropolitan Council Members / district list — https://www.nashville.gov/departments/council/districts
  24. Nashville.gov — Metropolitan Council Meetings — https://www.nashville.gov/departments/council/boards/metro-council/meetings
  25. Nashville Legistar — Meeting Calendar and legislation search — https://nashville.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx
  26. Nashville Legistar — Planning and Zoning Committee — https://nashville.legistar.com/DepartmentDetail.aspx?ID=41900&GUID=D9EEA6EE-9401-4864-9071-E76FECC0FA71
  27. Nashville.gov — Planning Commission meeting information — https://www.nashville.gov/departments/planning/meeting-information
  28. Nashville.gov — Planning Commission — https://www.nashville.gov/departments/planning/boards/planning-commission
  29. Nashville.gov — Metro Water Services — https://www.nashville.gov/departments/water
  30. Nashville Electric Service — https://www.nespower.com/
  31. WSMV — "Middle Tennessee drought monitor shows major improvement since April" (2026-07-16) — https://www.wsmv.com/2026/07/16/drought-conditions-continue-improve-across-middle-tennessee/
  32. U.S. Drought Monitor — Tennessee — https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?TN
  33. PlantMaps — Tennessee current drought conditions (2026-07-07) — https://www.plantmaps.com/en/us/state/tennessee/current-drought-conditions
  34. datacentermap — Nashville facilities list — https://www.datacentermap.com/usa/tennessee/nashville/

Lead source: resident reports on the Brockovich AI Data Center community map, then independently verified against public records. Research, not legal, financial, real-estate, or investment advice. Some resident-reported pins remain uncorroborated and are labeled as such above.