Some Southaven homeowners living near SpaceXAI’s power plant say the company’s buyout offers are coming in below what their houses are worth, even as the company keeps adding homes and land to its growing footprint in north DeSoto County. One Brookhaven Drive resident told the DeSoto Times he turned down a SpaceXAI buyout offer after the two sides could not agree on a price.
One homeowner’s SpaceXAI buyout offer
Leo Awgowhat, who has lived on Brookhaven Drive since 2019, said Burch Realty Group, a DeSoto County real estate firm handling purchases for SpaceXAI, first offered him $185,000 for his home. He said he countered at $225,000 and was told the house was worth only about $195,000. He said he has not heard back since and does not plan to sell for now.
Awgowhat also said he was told that selling would keep him from taking part in a proposed class-action lawsuit residents filed in June over noise from the gas turbines at the power plant at 2875 Stanton Road. Residents reported in September receiving letters offering to buy homes if they agreed not to join that lawsuit.
Awgowhat, who has said he is running for DeSoto County District 3 supervisor next year, estimated that comparable homes elsewhere in the county sell for $250,000 to $300,000. Online estimates for two nearby homes the company recently bought ranged from roughly $189,000 to $223,000.
Company keeps buying property
Property records show MZX Tech LLC, the parent of SpaceXAI, bought five homes near the plant in October, according to the DeSoto Times:
2164 Charleston Cove
2118 Cedarcrest
2117 Brookhaven Drive
2128 Brookhaven Drive
2243 Ashland Drive
The deeds were recorded between Oct. 13 and Oct. 22, and sale prices were not listed. The Daily Memphian reported Sunday that the company has acquired more than 150 acres over the past month, leased a warehouse a few miles south of its data centers and power plant, and bought seven homes in the Colonial Hills and Brookhaven subdivisions. That report also noted neighbors’ complaints about noise, dust and heavy truck traffic on State Line Road.
City calls the buyouts voluntary
Southaven Mayor Darren Musselwhite has said the city told SpaceXAI it should pay above market value for homes in Colonial Hills, and he has described the buyouts as voluntary. Homeowners are not required to sell.
SpaceXAI did not have a public response to the residents’ complaints in the published reports.
Part of a larger debate
The buyout dispute is one piece of a broader debate over the company’s rapid growth in Southaven. Over the past few weeks:
A federal judge denied the company’s bid to dismiss an air pollution lawsuit over the Southaven turbines.
State environmental regulators have sought about $6.1 million in potential penalties tied to the company’s Southaven sites.
Elon Musk announced on Oct. 31 that two more data center clusters connected to the Colossus 2 campus are expected to open by December.
Residents who have received offers may want to get an independent appraisal and review any terms, including whether a sale would affect their rights in pending litigation, before signing. DeSoto County News will continue to follow SpaceXAI buyout offers and the company’s expansion in Southaven.
