Shadowbox Studios and an affiliated real estate company are suing DeKalb County together, alleging the county's data center moratorium has destroyed $200 million in property value on a nearly 200-acre site in south DeKalb. If the county loses or settles, DeKalb taxpayers countywide, including those in Dunwoody and Brookhaven, could be on the hook.
The Aug. 5 complaint filed in DeKalb County Superior Court names both Shadowbox and Henrico 183, a real estate company that purchased the property at 3600 International Park Drive in 2021, as co-plaintiffs, WABE reported. Our earlier coverage on Aug. 10 identified the lawsuit but did not report Henrico's involvement. The two companies say they spent more than $30 million developing the site for a data center.
At the heart of the dispute: written zoning certification letters that DeKalb planning staff sent to Shadowbox, Henrico and Blackhall Real Estate between June 2023 and February 2025. Those letters stated data centers would be permitted on the property, classified as either a "communication utility" or a "warehouse" under the site's M (light industrial) zoning.
A county planning department email cited in the complaint reads: "Although the 2015 Zoning Ordinance does not list data centers, our interpretation of this use felt more in line with communications, and the M and M-2 Zoning District would be granted by right," according to WSB-TV.
Planning officials have acknowledged sending the letters but said they were not legally binding.
Moratorium extended through March 2027
The Board of Commissioners voted 4-3 on July 8, 2025, to impose the original moratorium. On July 7, commissioners voted 6-1 to extend it through March 30, 2027. Commissioner Ted Terry cast the lone dissenting vote.
That extension came after the board unanimously rejected its own planning staff's recommended data center regulations at its June 23 meeting. The lawsuit calls that rejection proof the moratorium is "a ruse to indefinitely ban data center developments in the county without any rational basis."
The complaint also alleges the county scheduled a meeting with the companies for July 17, 2025, nine days after the original moratorium vote, to discuss converting their land disturbance permit from a film studio to a data center. The suit claims county staff knew the county had already voted to freeze permits yet "deliberately misled plaintiffs into thinking they were on track" to secure approval.
Commissioner warns of taxpayer cost
District 3 Commissioner Nicole Massiah, whose district includes the International Park Drive property, told WSB-TV on Aug. 10, after the initial lawsuit filing became public, that the planning department's written promises were made without board approval or public input. She warned the situation could cost taxpayers millions to resolve.
"Ultimately it's going to be held and heard in a court of law, if not settled beforehand," Massiah said in the interview.
What the companies want
Shadowbox and Henrico are asking a judge to declare the moratorium invalid, authorize them to build a data center on the site and award "just compensation" for alleged violation of property rights, plus attorneys' fees. In 2024, the companies requested 651 megawatts of power from Georgia Power, a request the lawsuit describes as necessary only for "a significant data center development."
A DeKalb County spokesperson said the county does not comment on pending litigation.
What's next
The DeKalb County Zoning Board of Appeals will hear the companies' appeal of their denied permit at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 9. The hearing is open to the public.
