A rendering of the proposed data center on Lower Moncure Road which, if constructed, would be operated by Dallas-based CyrusOne. Source: PointOne Data Centers.

By Gordon Anderson | gordon@rantnc.com

A developer has applied for a permit to build a large capacity data center in northern Lee County, according to paperwork on file with the local planning department.

Virginia-based PointOne, in conjunction with local developer Helix Ventures, has proposed a 300,000 square foot data center facility on 56 acres off Lower Moncure Road. Once the project is complete, data center operator CyrusOne will become the owner and end user of the 90 megawatt IT load facility. CyrusOne is headquartered in Dallas and operates more than 60 data centers worldwide.

The project comes with a significant tax base investment. The building itself will be valued at $900 million, containing technology worth as much as two to three times that value. Annually, the building will generate at least $1 million in new tax revenue locally, plus whatever revenue comes from the servers and equipment. There are no tax incentives associated with the project.

Data centers are typically warehouse-type structures that are home to computer servers powering a variety of operations like cloud storage, website hosting, streaming platforms, financial transactions, and other data-intensive digital services.

The facility will use a “closed loop” cooling system that requires 250,000 gallons of water – provided by CyrusOne – which will be re-used “for the life of the project,” according to Katy Hancock, CyrusOne’s vice president of community affairs.

“This water is trucked in and the system is filled once,” Hancock said. “The water is essentially a vehicle for cooling, and there’s no discharge whatsoever. CyrusOne has been using closed loop systems for about 15 years now.”

The only other water use on the site would be for internal plumbing – things like kitchens, bathrooms and landscaping.

The site of a proposed data center campus on Lower Moncure Road. Cletus Hall Road is at the top right of the image. Source: Sanford-Lee County Planning Department.

Next to the site on Lower Moncure Road, Central Electric Membership Corporation is constructing a substation that will serve the project. CEMC has provided a “will serve” letter as part of the project submittal indicating the company is able to serve the project without adverse impacts to its rate payers.

“CyrusOne covers the costs of serving its projects, investing in infrastructure that strengthens the grid,” Kelsey Fehr of PointOne said, adding this reinforces CEMC’s ability to serve the project without adverse impacts to its ratepayers.

Fehr said the project is considered “phase one” of the development, which would total 430 acres. The remainder of the development hasn’t been planned, she said, and end users and use types are currently unknown other than they would be light industrial uses.

“Any further expansion of the site is not guaranteed to be data center usage,” she said.

The data center would be staffed by about 30 to 40 people “working around the clock,” according to Hancock, and a significant number of construction jobs during the building phase, jobs she said the company would be “heavily focused” on providing to local workers where possible.

It’s unknown right now exactly what customer or customers the data center would serve. Hancock said CyrusOne leases space to users – in some cases that means a single company, in others it may be many.

“CyrusOne works with reputable technology companies, hyperscalers and cloud computing providers who share our commitment safety, sustainability and being a good neighbor,” Hancock explained.

If the project is permitted, PointOne is looking to begin work in the fall of this year and be operational sometime in 2028.

The proposal comes after months of speculation and even uproar in Lee County about data centers. The issue spilled into public discourse toward the end of 2025, when it was reported that a company called Deep River Data was interested in accessing natural gas from an old test well in order to power an AI data operation. Concerns about fracking, as well as potential adverse impacts from that project – which was never officially proposed or submitted for approvals – led local leaders to adopt a rule set governing data centers in Sanford and Lee County. Those rules, among other things, banned fracking-associated data centers.

Many residents had pushed for a moratorium which would prevent any data center construction for a set period of time. Counties and municipalities are barred under state law from banning data centers outright.

The permit application on the Sanford-Lee County Planning Department website has a number of other documents addressing potential impacts from the project. An acoustic report shows the pre-construction noise level in decibels in the area at below 65 dBA, the maximum allowed under the local rules.

Fehr said she expects CyrusOne to be a valuable addition to the community.

“I’m really proud that we found a partner in CyrusOne,” she said. “They have big commitments to sustainability we’re glad we’ve found a great operator who plays within the rules and will be a good corporate partner for the community.”