How 200,000 Square Feet Became 3.6 Million: The Site Plan Evolution

Three Plans, One Pattern

The developer has published three versions of the Central Park Commerce Center site plan on their website. They may have intended these as evidence of transparency. Instead, they tell the story of a project that has fundamentally changed in character since the county first approved it — while the community it affects was never meaningfully consulted.

2017: The Approved Plan

Approved: July 12, 2017 | Gross Site Area: 138.32 acres | Total Building Area: ~2,800,000 SF

The original approved plan was primarily a warehouse park:

• Building A: 1,200,000 SF warehouse + 25,000 SF office
• Buildings B & C: 253,638 SF each (warehouse)
• Building D: 6,000 SF office
• Data Center: 200,000 SF across 2 buildings (100,000 SF each)
• FPL Minor Utility: 2.25 acres (no square footage proposed)

The data center component was just 200,000 square feet — roughly 7% of the total development. This is what the county approved when it rezoned the land in 2016.

Key detail: The plan notes "Data Information Processing" as the use category — a term that encompasses everything from basic server rooms to hyperscale AI campuses.

2021: The Amended Plan

Approved: December 2021 | Gross Site Area: 138.32 acres | Total Building Area: ~2,800,000 SF

The 2021 plan appears nearly identical to 2017 at first glance. The same warehouse buildings, same two data center buildings at 100,000 SF each. But it introduced a key change:

• A note was added: "THE PROPOSED DATA CENTER IS CONSIDERED A LIGHT INDUSTRIAL USE AND IS LIMITED TO 200,000 SF"
• The plan maintained the same footprint but refined variance requests

This version passed without significant public notice or opposition — because it looked like the same project.

2026: The Draft Plan

Submitted: February 2026 (Draft) | Gross Site Area: 202.67 acres | Total Building Area: 3,594,564 SF

The 2026 plan is a fundamentally different project:

• Buildings 1-6: 2,346,564 SF warehouse (including 128,190 SF office)
• Buildings 7-9: 140,000 SF each — Data Information Processing (122,000 SF DIP + 18,000 SF office)
• Buildings 10-11: 306,000 SF each — Data Information Processing (+ 18,000 SF office each)
• Minor Utility Buildings: 3 buildings at 72,000 SF each = 216,000 SF
• Data Center Total: 1,032,000 SF (plus 90,000 SF accessory office)

The data center component grew from 200,000 SF to 1,032,000 SF — a 5x increase. The site expanded from 138 to 203 acres. And 216,000 square feet of "minor utility buildings" appeared for the first time.

What Changed — And What It Means

| Metric | 2017 Plan | 2026 Plan | Change | |--------|-----------|-----------|--------| | Total site area | 138.32 acres | 202.67 acres | +47% | | Data center SF | 200,000 | 1,032,000 | +416% | | Data center buildings | 2 | 5 | +150% | | Minor utility SF | 0 | 216,000 | New | | Total building area | ~2,800,000 | 3,594,564 | +28% | | Variance: parking reduction | Standard | 87.5% reduction | New | | Variance: tree reduction | Standard | 996 fewer trees | New |

The Unanswered Questions

What are the "minor utility buildings"? The 2026 plan includes three 72,000 SF buildings labeled "minor utility." These are not explained in the developer's fact sheet or website. At 216,000 SF total, they're larger than the entire original data center approval. Do they house backup generators? Electrical substations? Cooling equipment? The community deserves to know what will be in buildings that didn't exist in any prior approved plan.

Why does the parking variance matter? The developer requested an 87.5% reduction in required parking — from 1 space per 250 SF to 1 space per 2,000 SF for data center space. This confirms what the developer acknowledges privately: these buildings will have almost no human occupants. It undermines the "high-skill, high-wage jobs" narrative in their PR materials.

What happened to the tree requirement? The developer is requesting a waiver to plant 996 fewer trees than required. On a 203-acre site adjacent to residential neighborhoods that were promised a natural buffer, this reduction directly affects the quality of life for Arden families.

Can the developer expand further? The 2026 plan uses a floor area ratio (FAR) of 0.41 against a maximum of 0.85. This means the developer is using less than half the allowed density — leaving room for future expansion applications.

The Core Issue

The community approved a warehouse park with a small data processing component in 2016. Nine years later, that project has transformed into a hyperscale data center campus with 5 times the data center footprint, 216,000 SF of unexplained utility buildings, and multiple variance requests to reduce trees, parking, and other requirements.

This evolution is exactly why residents feel the project was presented under false pretenses. The county approved one thing. The developer is building another.

How to help: Sign the petition, contact your commissioner, and attend the July 15 hearing.