‘Hiding in plain sight’: An AI-ready data center is coming to a Miami neighborhood
Amy A. Dawkins had driven by the new 150,000-square-foot data center tucked in the middle of Westview several times before she knew what it was.
Since New Hampshire-based information management company Iron Mountain broke ground on the 3.1 acre site to build what they call an “AI-ready” data center, word has spread through the predominantly Black neighborhood about the new development.
“It’s definitely hiding in plain sight,” said Dawkins, who lives less than a mile from the center.
Concerns about the data center were raised at a town hall held by County Commissioner Marleine Bastien. At the early April meeting, resident Elizabeth Favier Bellamy inquired about the data center and why neighbors didn’t know about it.
“It will definitely affect the residents in your district,” Bellamy told Bastien at the meeting, before rattling off a list of reported dangers data centers bring, including increased utility rates and pollution.
Bellamy’s worry about the data center went unaddressed at the meeting, and she said she’s still waiting to hear from Bastien’s office regarding her concern. “I don’t think they’re aware of the long-term effect it will have on the community,” she said. Bastien’s office did not respond to questions from the Miami Herald about the data center, including what the economic and environmental impact will be to the community and if there are more coming to the area. Iron Mountain officials said they were unavailable to comment on the data center at this time.
A February 2025 news release from the Miami-Dade Beacon Council announcing the groundbreaking noted the data center will run on 100 percent carbon-free energy and featured comments from Beacon Council representatives, Florida Power & Light Company, and Bastien, who touted the data center as an investment in the community.
But the news of the data center’s construction in Westview comes amid reports about the proliferation of data centers, which are facilities that house computer servers and data storage systems and the cooling and heating systems that power them, in Black and rural communities — bringing with them pollutants and draining the water supply.
A study by Cornell University researchers revealed that the current rate of AI growth would put 24 to 44 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere by 2030 from data centers— the equivalent of adding five to 10 million cars on the roads. The growth of data centers would also consume 731 to 1,1125 million cubic meters or water per year, or the annual household water usage for six to 10 million Americans.
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Data centers move in to Florida
Few details have been published about the data center in Westview, called MIA-1, which has been in the works since at least 2023. The company announced it was converting its former storage facility into a data center on an earnings call that year, Data Center Dynamics reported.
“We are actually scrapping the [original] building. So we’re reusing the land in that particular case because it’s the way that we could get the most data center capacity into that facility,” Iron Mountain CEO William Meaney reportedly said on the call at the time. “Otherwise, we would have been leaving much opportunity on the table.”
While Iron Mountain says that its data centers use renewable energy sources, such as wind, solar and hydro power to run its data centers, it is not clear which energy sources will be used to power this new “AI-ready” data center.
As companies race to expand their AI capabilities, the need for data centers has mushroomed. In Florida, the construction of data centers has become a hot button issue, with state lawmakers passing a bill adding guardrails intended to protect residents from increases to their electric bills and risks to water supply. Florida’s bill, however, allows data center companies to have government employees sign nondisclosure agreements, allowing secrecy to persist in the projects, the Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times reported.
In Florida, 103 data centers were listed as operational across at least 18 cities including 27 in Miami-Dade County, according to Data Center Map, which tracks data centers in the United States. There are efforts to bring a data center to Homestead, Data Center Dynamics reported, and Palm Beach County commissioners are weighing bringing a new data center that will sit on 202 acres and near an elementary school.
The promise of ‘local’ jobs
The Beacon Council announced last year that the data center is a $150 million investment into Miami-Dade’s “tech revolution” and will provide 30 jobs with an average salary of at least $71,733. The median salary in the Westview area is $57, 563, according to census data. While Bellamy, who lives two miles from the facility but has family that live in the Westview area, champions the increased job opportunities, she’s skeptical they will come to residents. There are two data center jobs listed on Iron Mountain’s website that are remote with salaries between $123,500 and $164,700. There are 18 total jobs listed for the Miami area, all remote work.
“Are we confident that they’re going to employ some of our own or are they going to bring their own talent?” she said, adding that 30 jobs isn’t nearly enough to make an economic impact in the area, which has a population of about 10,000 people.
Dawkins said she isn’t against AI or technology advances, but said she’d like to see it done in a more responsible manner. Still, she remains skeptical. “I’ve seen that this, harvesting data, can be done in a responsible manner, but that’s more costly,” she said. “Everyone’s trying to put out a product for the least amount possible, but at what cost?”
Romy Ellenbogen and Emily L. Mahoney contributed to this report.
This story was originally published April 22, 2026 at 4:30 AM.
