Southaven Mayor Says Data Center Development Has National Security Implications, Sets Out $40 Million Training Center Offer
Mayor Darren Musselwhite told Southaven aldermen that the data center development in the city has national security implications and called it patriotic, as he set out a $40 million offer and a land swap to relocate the city's police and fire training center.
Musselwhite told the city's Board of Aldermen that the data center development under way in the city has national security implications, as he set out a $40 million offer and a land swap from an affiliated company to relocate Southaven's police and fire training center.
Speaking during the mayor's report, Musselwhite addressed the project directly. "This development, what is going on in this city has national security implications and as I've explained to SpaceX, they could have done a better job with the public relations," he told the board.
Musselwhite also described the project as patriotic and said it would rank among the most significant economic developments in DeSoto County's history.
On the terms, the mayor said a company affiliated with SpaceX AI had offered the city money as well as land to move the training center, and that the offer would help fund new facilities to replace ones he described as outdated. "In addition to the land, the company offered the city $40 million," Musselwhite said. He told the board the city already owns adjoining acreage near the proposed relocation site south of Stateline Road.
Musselwhite said contracts on the deal have not yet closed, and that design work on the new facilities would begin once they do. No vote was taken at the meeting, and further details on the terms of the land swap were not provided.
