KENANSVILLE, Fla. — A sprawling piece of rural Florida land being marketed as a potential hyperscale data center site is getting an uneasy reception from nearby farmers who worry about what a project that size could mean for their wells, farmland and way of life.
The property at 5300 North Canoe Creek Road near Kenansville covers about 2,232 acres, according to a current CBRE property listing.
But for people who have spent years farming in southern Osceola County, the listing represents something bigger than another real estate deal.
“We’ve all heard about it, and, of course, nobody wants to see it go in,” local farmer Aaron Mick told WESH 2 News.
Mick, an Osceola County native who has worked in agriculture for nearly two decades, told the station that neighbors are already talking about the proposal and what a massive data center could mean for the area.
His biggest concern is water.
Mick said local residents already deal with problems involving salt entering freshwater wells. He worries that if a future data center were to require large amounts of water, those pressures could become worse.
No site-specific water consumption figure has been publicly established for the property, and there is currently no approved data center project there.
2,232 acres being pitched for hyperscale development
CBRE is advertising the land as a data center opportunity with 1,066 developable acres.
Marketing materials say Duke Energy would serve the site and that power could potentially be available beginning in early 2028.
Duke Energy told WESH that it has a legal obligation to serve locally approved economic development projects within its territory.
The property listing has attracted attention, but an important distinction remains: a piece of land being marketed for data center development does not mean construction is imminent.
The owner of the property told the Orlando Business Journal earlier this month that no hyperscale data center project has been formally committed to the land.
No buyer or data center operator has been publicly identified.
That leaves residents reacting not to an approved construction project, but to the possibility of what could eventually replace more than 2,000 acres of rural property.
Farmer says development pressure is getting harder to escape
For Mick, the debate also highlights a problem Florida farmers have been confronting for years: it can become increasingly difficult to justify keeping land in agriculture as property values and operating costs rise.
He told WESH that supporting local farms is one way residents who want to preserve rural land can help keep those businesses financially viable.
The concern is particularly visible around Canoe Creek Road, an area still marked by pastures, ranches and agricultural property even as development continues elsewhere in fast-growing Osceola County.
A September Spectrum News 13 report on the property found similar concerns from residents about how continued development could change the rural part of the county.
The debate also comes as communities across Florida are taking a closer look at the potential effects of large data centers on electricity demand, water resources and land use.
Osceola County has put large data center applications on hold
Even if a developer ultimately decides it wants to build on the Kenansville property, county officials aren’t currently moving forward with applications for large-scale data centers.
In an Oct. 2 statement, Osceola County said commissioners had unanimously agreed to defer action on large-scale data center proposals while Florida completes a statewide study of their potential impacts.
The study was ordered under Florida’s 2026 data center law and must examine issues including water and land use, energy demand, utility costs, economic development and public health and safety.
According to the Florida Senate’s summary of the law, the independent study is due to the governor and legislative leaders by July 1, 2027.
Osceola County said applications submitted in the meantime will not be considered for review.
The law also preserves local governments’ authority over planning and land-development decisions involving large electricity users such as data centers.
That means the 2,232-acre Kenansville property remains, for now, exactly what the available records describe it as: land being marketed as a possible data center site rather than an approved project.
Online reaction: Neighbors are already talking
The debate appears to have reached local social media before any formal project has reached county review.
Mick told WESH the potential development has been circulating heavily on Facebook and among neighbors in the Kenansville area.
That provides evidence of local interest, but publicly accessible comments reviewed so far aren’t enough to characterize the broader community as uniformly opposed to the site.
Previous online discussions about data centers in Osceola County have focused largely on the same questions now being raised by farmers: water demand, electricity use, rural development and how much control local governments should have over where large facilities are built.
Those questions may become more pointed if a buyer or developer eventually emerges.
For now, there is no announced operator, no approved data center and no construction schedule.
There is, however, a 2,232-acre property being marketed for one — and rural neighbors are already paying attention.
