Data Center Boom Turns Some Pennsylvania Landowners Into Millionaires

For Michael Hodgson, the offer to sell his rural Pennsylvania property for a data center “felt like winning the lottery.” The 38-year-old construction worker received millions for his 14-acre property, nearly 60 times what he paid, allowing him to retire.

Hodgson is among nearly 100 families in Salem Township who sold more than 1,700 acres to a data center developer this year. The families received between $1 million and more than $35 million, while the developer paid $586 million for the entire parcel, or more than $300,000 an acre. Land in the area had been worth less than $5,000 an acre two years earlier.

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felt like winning the lottery

The sales come as data centers face strong opposition elsewhere in the United States. More than 70% of Americans said they do not want data centers in their communities in a recent Gallup poll, citing noise, environmental effects and pressure on local services.

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It's easy to look from the outside looking in and say 'Oh, these guys are sellouts,' but, I mean, who wouldn't jump at the opportunity, you know, to create generational wealth?

Jack Sordoni, a land developer and Salem Township native who helped organize the sale, described the development boom as a “gold rush.” He said the deal includes community benefits agreements worth millions of dollars for fire, police, emergency, medical, water, sewer and education services. Another expansion deal could benefit more than 200 additional families.

Sordoni said 80% of the families who sold their land plan to remain local. David and Marilee Kiliti, who spent years working multiple jobs on their 89-acre farm, sold it for more than $20 million. They are building a dream home in Salem Township, while their daughter is reopening a shuttered local brewery.

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We're tired of watching things leave Salem Township.