A town hall meeting about the proposed “Project Tango” AI hyperscale data center near 20-Mile Bend has been rescheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 25 by Palm Beach County Mayor Sara Baxter.
Baxter said this week that the change from the original date at the end of January was to allow for the gathering of more information and to assemble experts needed to answer residents’ questions about the proposed 1.8-million-square-foot main facility just west of the Arden development off Southern Blvd.
“We hope to have experts there who aren’t being paid for by either side,” Baxter said. “Our only goal is to provide accurate information to the community.”
Baxter also represents District 6 on the Palm Beach County Commission. Her district includes Arden, the proposed data center site and most of the county west of State Road 7.
However, Arden residents are not happy about the delay.
“We were surprised,” said Raymond Penuela, the recently elected president of the Arden Homeowners’ Association. “From our point of view, the sooner the better. It seems like they’re buying time to give us less time to respond.”
The proposal came up as part of a no-discussion-required consent agenda at the commission’s Dec. 10 meeting, but it was moved to the regular agenda for discussion. With dozens of opposed Arden residents packing the meeting room, commissioners voted 7-0 to postpone a decision on the project until a meeting on April 23.
Penuela said the town hall “should have happened before the project came up in December.”
PBA Holdings Inc., which with an Atlanta firm owns the land where the data center is to be built, on Nov. 19 contributed $10,000 to Friends of Sara Baxter, a political action committee based in Tallahassee. Also, on Dec. 4, Related Southeast LLC, which is controlled by billionaire real estate investor Stephen Ross, donated $25,000 to the fund.
The Related donation is the largest to the campaign organization by far in 2025, according to Florida Department of State records.
Ross does not have direct ties to Project Tango. However, he has framed large-scale digital infrastructure — including AI-capable computing — as essential to his vision of turning Palm Beach County into a major East Coast technology center. “Mr. Ross has never once mentioned to me that he needs a data center in Palm Beach County,” said Baxter, who is running this year for a second four-year term on the commission.
Baxter faces a Republican primary challenge from Indian Trail Improvement District President Elizabeth Accomando. Democrats Mohammad Junaid Akther and Rudolph Tinker have also filed to run.
In reference to the PBA Holdings donation, Baxter bristles at the notion that she might be influenced by such a contribution. “I cannot be bought,” she said. “Just because someone donates to my campaign does not mean I’m automatically going to vote the way they want. I was elected to represent the residents of my district, and that’s what I intend to do.”
Baxter previously said she would not support Project Tango if Arden and District 6 residents continue to oppose it. This week, she said she is standing by that pledge.
An online petition opposing the project started by Arden resident Corey Kanterman at www.change.org had 8,297 signatures as of Wednesday, Jan. 21.
Kanterman describes Project Tango as “a massive AI data center that plans to cover over 200 acres with buildings reaching up to seven stories high. The sheer scale of this project, which will encompass [a total of] nearly 4 million square feet of building space, poses a substantial threat to the health, safety and well-being of residents like me and the countless others in our community.”
He calls the close proximity of the development to Arden’s 2,000-plus homes and Saddle View Elementary School “deeply concerning.”
“The potential negative impacts on our mental and physical health cannot be overstated,” Kanterman added.
Meanwhile, at least two bills are making their way through the current session of the Florida Legislature that could have an impact on Project Tango and all proposed data centers within the state.
House Bill 1007 would establish hyperscale data centers as a distinct category of development that triggers specific land-use prohibitions and procedures including:
- Prohibiting such data centers in specified land-use categories within unincorporated areas after a specified date.
- Require that local governments conduct hearings before approving construction or operation of these facilities.
- Set additional constraints on where they can be sited and how they are regulated under local comprehensive planning.
Senate Bill 484 would create regulatory definitions and requirements specifically aimed at managing the impacts of major data-center developments, including those built to support artificial intelligence workload.
The so-called “AI Bill Rights” championed by Gov. Ron DeSantis does not focus on land use or infrastructure, and does not regulate where or how AI data centers are built. Instead, it focuses on consumer and civil protections. It would require transparency when Floridians interact with AI; strengthen protections for personal data, likeness and children; and limit certain uses of AI deemed deceptive or harmful.
