A major new data center is on the horizon for Rome after Atlas Development agreed to purchase 100 acres at the Battey Business Complex for $5.7 million. The project, if finalized, would expand the city’s growing footprint in the technology sector and build on Atlas’s previous work developing data centers near Shannon and Coosa.
The property, once home to the Northwest Georgia Regional Hospital, is being cleared for redevelopment with the help of more than $7 million in federal grants for asbestos removal and demolition. Most of the remaining buildings on the site will be torn down following cleanup.
“This is a continuing commitment to bring high-tech jobs to Rome with the least impact,” said Rome-Floyd Development Authority Chairman Jimmy Byars. “The data centers are a good, clean and quiet industry that brings in great tax revenue. This continues our striving, with Microsoft, to bring high-tech jobs to our community.”
Under the agreement, Atlas will pay $50,000 per acre and deposit $150,000 in earnest money. The company will have a 19-month due diligence period to allow remediation work to be completed, with closing expected 30 days afterward. The earnest money would be forfeited if Atlas fails to close once the due diligence period ends.
The deal also hinges on a formal agreement with Georgia Power, which could require significant collateral and fees depending on power needs. The Development Authority will be able to request updates from Atlas, and the deed restricts the property’s future use to data centers.
Rome City Commissioner Mark Cochran was shocked by the announcement of the data center. He is quoted as saying, “I was just as surprised as everyone else about the data center announcement. No one bothered to inform us about it ahead of time. He noted that the road to redevelopment has been years in the making. “A few years ago, the City of Rome turned the property over to the Development Authority. The property was purchased from the state with SPLOST funds. The development authority then asked for the property to be rezoned from ‘office-industrial’ to ‘heavy industrial’ to allow for loud noises at all hours, heavy trucks, some fumes and odors, along with several other things that are not conducive to being within proximity of a residential neighborhood,” Cochran said. “The vote by commissioners was 8-1, with me being the lone no vote. At that point, the Development Authority had full control of the property.”
If completed, the project would strengthen Rome’s role as a hub for data centers in northwest Georgia, providing long-term investment and new opportunities for high-tech growth.
