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New Hampshire-based information management company Iron Mountain is bringing a 150,000 square-foot data center to the Westview neighborhood. The AI-powered facility is expected to bring 30 jobs to the area. This is a rendering of the exterior of the building.<\/p>\n
Courtesy of Iron Mountain\u2019s Facebook page<\/p>\n
Amy A. Dawkins had driven by the new 150,000-square-foot data center<\/a> tucked in the middle of Westview several times before she knew what it was.<\/p>\n Since New Hampshire-based information management company Iron Mountain broke ground on the 3.1 acre site to build what they call an \u201cAI-ready\u201d data center, word has spread through the predominantly Black neighborhood about the new development.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s definitely hiding in plain sight,\u201d said Dawkins, who lives less than a mile from the center.<\/p>\n Concerns about the data center were raised at a town hall held by County Commissioner Marleine Bastien<\/a>. At the early April meeting, resident Elizabeth Favier Bellamy inquired about the data center and why neighbors didn\u2019t know about it.<\/p>\n \u201cIt will definitely affect the residents in your district,\u201d Bellamy told Bastien at the meeting, before rattling off a list of reported dangers data centers<\/a> bring, including increased utility rates and pollution.<\/p>\n Bellamy\u2019s worry about the data center went unaddressed at the meeting, and she said she\u2019s still waiting to hear from Bastien\u2019s office regarding her concern. \u201cI don\u2019t think they\u2019re aware of the long-term effect it will have on the community,\u201d she said. Bastien\u2019s office did not respond to questions from the Miami Herald about the data center, including what the economic and environmental impact will be to the community and if there are more coming to the area. Iron Mountain officials said they were unavailable to comment on the data center at this time.<\/p>\n A February 2025 news release from the Miami-Dade Beacon Council<\/a> announcing the groundbreaking noted the data center will run on 100 percent carbon-free energy and featured comments from Beacon Council representatives, Florida Power & Light Company, and Bastien, who touted the data center as an investment in the community.<\/p>\n But the news of the data center\u2019s construction in Westview comes amid reports about the proliferation of data centers, which are facilities that house computer servers and data storage systems and the cooling and heating systems that power them, in Black and rural communities \u2014 bringing with them pollutants and draining the water supply.<\/p>\n A study by Cornell University researchers<\/a> revealed that the current rate of AI growth would put 24 to 44 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere by 2030 from data centers\u2014 the equivalent of adding five to 10 million cars on the roads. The growth of data centers would also consume 731 to 1,1125 million cubic meters or water per year, or the annual household water usage for six to 10 million Americans.<\/p>\n RELATED: Florida data center needs up to 50k gallons water a day. That might be a problem<\/a><\/p>\n Data centers move in to Florida<\/p>\n Few details have been published about the data center in Westview, called MIA-1, which has been in the works since at least 2023. The company announced it was converting its former storage facility into a data center on an earnings call that year, Data Center Dynamics reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are actually scrapping the [original] building. So we\u2019re reusing the land in that particular case because it\u2019s the way that we could get the most data center capacity into that facility,\u201d Iron Mountain CEO William Meaney reportedly said on the call at the time. \u201cOtherwise, we would have been leaving much opportunity on the table.\u201d<\/p>\n While Iron Mountain says that its data centers use renewable energy sources<\/a>, such as wind, solar and hydro power to run its data centers, it is not clear<\/a> which energy sources will be used to power this new \u201cAI-ready\u201d data center.<\/p>\n As companies race to expand their AI capabilities, the need for data centers has mushroomed. In Florida, the construction of data centers has become a hot button issue, with state lawmakers passing a bill adding guardrails intended to protect residents<\/a> from increases to their electric bills and risks to water supply. Florida\u2019s bill, however, allows data center companies to have government employees sign nondisclosure agreements, allowing secrecy to persist in the projects, the Miami Herald\/Tampa Bay Times reported.<\/p>\n In Florida, 103 data centers were listed as operational across at least 18 cities including 27 in Miami-Dade County, according to Data Center Map<\/a>, which tracks data centers in the United States. There are efforts to bring a data center to Homestead, Data Center Dynamics reported<\/a>, and Palm Beach County commissioners are weighing bringing a new data center<\/a> that will sit on 202 acres and near an elementary school.<\/p>\n The promise of \u2018local\u2019 jobs<\/p>\n The Beacon Council announced last year that the data center is a $150 million investment into Miami-Dade\u2019s \u201ctech revolution\u201d and will provide 30 jobs with an average salary of at least $71,733. The median salary in the Westview area is $57, 563, according to census data<\/a>. While Bellamy, who lives two miles from the facility but has family that live in the Westview area, champions the increased job opportunities, she\u2019s skeptical they will come to residents. There are two data center jobs listed<\/a> on Iron Mountain\u2019s website that are remote with salaries between $123,500 and $164,700. There are 18 total jobs listed for the Miami area, all remote work.<\/p>\n \u201cAre we confident that they\u2019re going to employ some of our own or are they going to bring their own talent?\u201d she said, adding that 30 jobs isn\u2019t nearly enough to make an economic impact in the area, which has a population of about 10,000 people.<\/p>\n Dawkins said she isn\u2019t against AI or technology advances, but said she\u2019d like to see it done in a more responsible manner. Still, she remains skeptical. \u201cI\u2019ve seen that this, harvesting data, can be done in a responsible manner, but that\u2019s more costly,\u201d she said. \u201cEveryone\u2019s trying to put out a product for the least amount possible, but at what cost?\u201d<\/p>\n Romy Ellenbogen and Emily L. Mahoney contributed to this report.<\/p>\n Follow More of Our Reporting on In the Spotlight<\/p>\n![\"New](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/iron_mountain_rendering_three.jpg\" "\\"iron_mountain_rendering_three.jpg\\"")
New Hampshire-based information management company Iron Mountain is bringing a 150,000 square-foot data center to the Westview neighborhood. The AI-powered facility is expected to bring 30 jobs to the area. This is a rendering of the building. Courtesy of Iron Mountain\u2019s Facebook page <\/p>\n![\"New](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/iron_mountain_rendering_two.jpg\" "\\"iron_mountain_rendering_two.jpg\\"")
New Hampshire-based information management company Iron Mountain is bringing a 150,000 square-foot data center to the Westview neighborhood. The AI-powered facility is expected to bring 30 jobs to the area. This is a rendering of the aerial of the building. Courtesy of Iron Mountain\u2019s Facebook page <\/p>\n
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