Kings Mountain, NC: Couple Regrets Land Sale for Data Center Project Amid City Lawsuit, Moratorium
A couple in Kings Mountain, NC, expressed regret over selling their family land to Honey Badger Development for an AI data center campus, stating they would not have sold it had they known its purpose. The developer's LLC, HB2K, is currently suing the city of Kings Mountain over utilities for the project, which has approved zoning. This development occurs as Kings Mountain leaders have enacted a data center moratorium, the applicability of which to this specific project is currently unclear.
Roxanne and Tony Wright of Kings Mountain, North Carolina, have voiced profound regret over selling their ancestral land to Honey Badger Development, a Reno, Nevada-based data center developer. The couple, whose family had owned the property for over 40 years, believed the land would be used for residential housing and stated they would not have sold it if they had known it was destined for an AI data center campus. They retained a small family cemetery on their remaining property.
Honey Badger Development, operating through its North Carolina LLC, HB2K, filed a lawsuit against the City of Kings Mountain earlier this year concerning utilities for the proposed data center. Court documents from the lawsuit indicate the property has "approved zoning and 150MW-300MW power pathway" and is "fully entitled as an AI data center campus."
The city of Kings Mountain recently enacted a data center moratorium, though a city spokesperson did not immediately clarify if this moratorium impacts the HB2K project. Tony Wright observed that no development progress appears to have been made since the land sale in 2023. The couple's sentiment reflects a broader national trend of increasing opposition to data center developments.