What the data center on Wymore Road actually is — and what it isn't.
There's been real concern about HostDime's building next to I-4 after recent coverage. Asking questions about something new in town is fair. Here's plain information to separate what's real from what's carried over from headlines about very different projects.
HostDime's new headquarters and data center — the kind of facility where websites, cloud storage, and online services physically live. A Florida company founded in 2003.
The "hyperscale" data centers in the national news — the ones tied to enormous water use and rising electric bills. This building is a small fraction of that size.
On noise
There are no homes next to this site. The parcel sits right against Wymore Road and I-4, with vacant land and stormwater ponds on the other sides. The traffic on I-4 is far louder than anything a building like this produces in normal operation.
As the surrounding land develops, keeping any future homes sensibly separated from it is a routine part of how the Town reviews new construction.
On water
The building connects to Town water and sewer like any other customer, and is metered the same way.
On power
Electricity is supplied by the regional power company, not the Town. A facility this size doesn't place the kind of demand on the grid that the giant sites do — which is what drives the stories about rising rates elsewhere.
What the Town agreed to
The development agreement dates to 2016. The Town agreed to reimburse HostDime up to $200,000, one time, for the water and sewer lines the company had to build to connect — since the agreement doesn't allow wells or septic.1
That was not a cash gift. It paid for utility infrastructure now in the ground that will also serve future development along the corridor. HostDime separately built a new public road and agreed to keep the property within Eatonville for the long term.
Where it stands
Approved in 2016, the project was delayed over the years by permitting and the COVID period, with the Town granting several extensions along the way. The building is now essentially complete, with opening targeted for around the middle of 2026.
Once finished, it puts a long-vacant piece of the old Hungerford property back into productive use and onto the tax rolls, and brings some skilled jobs — though a facility like this runs with a relatively small staff.
You don't have to take anyone's word for it — including ours. How data centers work, what this one is, and what the Town agreed to are all things you can read for yourself. The sources are below.