Eatonville officials are delaying a decision on whether to increase daily fines on a long-delayed data center being built on the former site of a historic Eatonville school, east of Interstate 4.
The Eatonville Town Council considered Tuesday whether to double the fine from $250 to $500 a day. Instead, council members decided to meet with the developer before making a decision.
HostDime has been accruing the $250-a-day fine since missing its July 2025 deadline to open the 100,000-square-foot facility. As of September 1, the fines had totaled $99,250.
During the meeting, council members expressed frustration with HostDime and its lack of communication with the town.
Councilman Tarus Mack directed his comments toward HostDime CEO Manny Vivar, who was not at the meeting.
“I’m extremely disappointed in everything that has been taking place with you not showing accountability, disrespecting my community,” Mack said. “Don’t make your mouth write a check that you can’t cash.”
Vivar said the company understands the town’s frustrations, but using the fines as leverage to push the project forward isn’t helping.
“The town is trying to impose pressure,” Vivar said.
He called the fines “salt to a wound” and said HostDime wants the project completed as much as anyone and is working hard to get it done.
HostDime’s decade long delay
HostDime is an Orlando-based company that provides data center infrastructure, including server hosting and cloud services, where businesses can store their computer equipment inside a data center.
The company has had a presence in Eatonville for more than a decade and said the new facility will serve as its flagship Orlando data center, replacing its existing facility as that location reaches capacity.
The project has also changed over time. When HostDime broke ground in 2016, the company described plans for an 88,000-square-foot facility that was expected to open in 2018. The current project is a seven-story, 100,000-square-foot facility.
The latest opening deadline was July 2025, which was not met.
Vivar attended an Eatonville meeting last month and told town leaders the project was nearly complete.
But the town has continued to raise questions about the impact of the facility, including noise, water use, flooding and infrastructure.
Mayor Ruthi Critton said Tuesday that the noise, water and flooding concerns have been addressed, while some infrastructure issues are still being worked on.
For now, the $250-a-day fines will continue and Critton said the town still wants to see the project open and become a new business in Eatonville.
She said HostDime is expected to hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the town and open the facility sometime this month.
