The Nashville Metro Council just gave the go-signal to Mayor Freddie O’Connell's plan to use eminent domain to block a planned 23-acre data center campus sitting right beside the Nashville Zoo at Grassmere. According to real estate news platform CoStar, the city council approved the measure by a 27-5 vote last Wednesday, meaning the city government can now take the next steps to proceed with the legal process that will force the purchase of the property.Go deeper with TH Premium: AI and data centers“I’m glad Metro Council passed our legislation that gives us the option to acquire property next to the zoo for a number of public needs,” Mayor O’Connell said in a statement. “We’re working closely with our Finance and General Services departments to plan for the site.”The developer of the property, DC Blox, wanted to put up a 69,220-square-foot single-story data center on the site that was expected to cost more than $700 million to build. It would sit right beside the 188-acre Nashville Zoo at Grassmere, which opened in 1990 as the Grassmere Wildlife Park. This zoo is one of the biggest attractions in Tennessee, expecting to receive two million visitors annually by 2027. Aside from that, it also participates in more than 50 conservation programs with institutions across the world.