Florida City Approves Development Agreement for Massive 1,300-Acre Data Center Campus
April 21, 2026
In a significant move for Florida's expanding data center landscape, the City of Fort Meade has taken a crucial step toward hosting one of the largest data center campuses in the United States. The project underscores the intense demand for scalable infrastructure, particularly in strategic regions connecting major metropolitan hubs.
Fort Meade City Commissioners voted unanimously to approve a development agreement with developer Stonebridge, which is operating through the entity Fort Meade DC, LLC. This agreement formalizes the commitments between the city and the developer, following the rezoning of a 1,300-acre parcel west of Highway 98 for industrial use last June and the prior approval of a master development plan for the site. A staff memorandum clarified that the agreement "is not a request for new development entitlements, but rather implements and operationalizes the previously approved Future Land Use and PUD zoning approvals."
The scale of the proposed campus is substantial, with data center buildings planned to encompass approximately 4.4 million square meters (47.36 million square feet) of space. Building designs are limited to a maximum of three stories and sixty feet in height. Key commitments within the agreement stipulate that Stonebridge will construct necessary public water and wastewater improvements related to the property's development, while the City of Fort Meade will reserve corresponding water and wastewater capacity for the massive facility.
However, a final major hurdle remains before construction can proceed. The Southwest Florida Water Management District must grant permission for the city to supply the vast amounts of water required by the data center complex. This highlights the growing scrutiny on resource usage, especially water for cooling, as mega-scale data center projects advance.
The project's location in Polk County, situated between the major markets of Tampa and Orlando, positions it as a potential key node for digital infrastructure in central Florida. Its advancement reflects broader trends of data center development expanding beyond traditional primary markets into areas offering available land and strategic connectivity, though often facing increased examination over environmental and community impact.
Source: datacenterdynamics
