About 100 acres right across I-16 from the airport. Metter is taking this land into the city. The city was told it's for cold storage, a hotel and stores. The builder's drawings say “Light Industrial.” Nobody has said it's a data center. Nobody has ruled it out, either.
Three separate records show only I-16 between this land and the airport runway: the developer's July 15 site plan, an aerial photo in the County Administrator's own June 2 email, and the county parcel map in the annexation packet. The engineer's July 23 email says a planned road inside the development "will connect to the industrial park."
Sources: site plan, 7/15/2026; email thread through 7/23/2026 (aerial on p. 4); annexation packet (parcel map on p. 8).
It's zoned for farming today. The plans ask for Light Industrial.
The drawing is titled "Parcel Subdivision, 990 Fortner Rd, Candler County, GA: Zoning Site Map." It covers two pieces of land, 46.76 acres and 54 acres, about 100.76 acres total. Existing zoning is listed as AG-3 (agricultural). Proposed zoning is listed as LI (Light Industrial). The retail center is listed at about 20,000 square feet. The hotel and fast-food spot have no size listed.
The buildings changed. An earlier version of the same plan, in the April state filing, showed different buildings on the Leslie Road lot, including one of about 198,000 square feet. (DRI #4695 report, page 11.)
Source: Pape-Dawson Engineers, job no. 2025-262, July 15, 2026 (PDF).
At Metter's September 14 meeting, the owners' lawyer said it would be the headquarters of a Georgia produce company:
"This project is going to feature a retail center, a hotel, a fast-food opportunity and a cold storage warehousing facility."
The news described it as a "nearly 46-acre" project. The engineer's plans cover more than twice that much land.
WSAV covered the hearing. The 46-acre figure matches only the Fortner Road lot. The plans also include the 54-acre Leslie Road lot next door. WSAV reported that the owners, the Moghaddams, run a produce company in Evans County.
Source: WSAV, "Metter discusses future growth and development," September 2026; the site plan above.
Big projects have to be reported to the state so the region can review them. The City of Metter filed this one in April 2026, about six weeks before the earliest email the county gave us.
The regional commission's review came back. It was sent to Metter on May 12, 2026. Here's what's in it:
Heart of Georgia Altamaha Regional Commission, "Development of Regional Impact Findings Report," DRI #4695, Fortner Road Mixed Use, Metter. The regional commission confirmed by email that it sent the final report to the City of Metter on May 12, 2026, that its file contains no traffic study, and that it had no correspondence with the City or the developer beyond the City's first notice. Quotes above are from the report's project summary, the Georgia DNR Wildlife Resources Division letter of May 1, 2026, and the findings section. Comment period: April 23 to May 7, 2026. Comments came from the Candler County Industrial Authority, Georgia DNR's Environmental Protection Division and Wildlife Resources Division, and the City of Santa Claus.
Source: Heart of Georgia Altamaha Regional Commission, DRI #4695 final findings report and review file, received under the Georgia Open Records Act on September 29, 2026. Read it: final findings report (PDF, 30 pages, 14 MB) and the regional commission’s April 20 letter to Metter.
This is Development of Regional Impact (DRI) #4695, "Fortner Road Mixed Use," on the Georgia Department of Community Affairs website. Filed 4/13/2026 by the City of Metter. On 4/16/2026 the Heart of Georgia Altamaha Regional Commission decided it "warrants regional review." Size: about 100 acres. Requested actions: rezoning and annexation. Power provider: Excelsior EMC, "16 MW/day at full buildout." The same line repeats for water, sewer, power expansion, on-site generation, and on-site wastewater: "As plans for the industrial parcel become available, additional review may be required." WSAV reported the project's projected value at $125 million when built out.
Source: Georgia DCA, DRI #4695 summary and forms; WSAV, September 2026.
Data centers use a huge amount of electricity. In most of Georgia, the power company is Georgia Power, and a state board called the Public Service Commission (the PSC) regulates it. The PSC sets Georgia Power's prices. Since 2025, it also reviews any Georgia Power deal with a customer that uses more than 100 megawatts.
This land isn't supplied by Georgia Power. The state filing says its power would come from Excelsior EMC, a power co-op based in Metter. Co-ops play by different rules:
So if a data center signs a power deal with Excelsior, the public may never see what it says: how much power, at what price, or who pays for new lines and substations. Power deals don't go to the City Council for a vote either, so council members may never see it either.
What we do know: the state filing lists "16 MW/day at full buildout," and the regional commission's final report lists "16 MWh/day." Those aren't the same thing. Sixteen megawatt-hours a day would be modest for a project this size; sixteen megawatts would be far more. We're asking the City of Metter which one it means. Either way, the filing says the industrial part's power needs aren't available yet.
For comparison, the data center proposed on Burkhalter Road in Statesboro sits on 26 acres and asked for 99 megawatts. This site is about 100 acres.
The Georgia PSC fully regulates Georgia Power but has limited authority over Georgia's 41 electric membership corporations (EMCs). Its 2025 large-load rule applies to Georgia Power. The regional commission's report calls the “16 MWh/day” figure the “peak connected electrical load.”
Sources: Protect Statesboro (Burkhalter Road records); Georgia PSC, Electric; DCD, PSC large-load rule; Georgia Watch, "Transparency Needed at Member-Owned Utilities"; Georgia DCA, DRI #4695.
The Land Deal
"Annexation" just means a city taking in land that used to be in the county. Emails we got from the county show the developer's engineers spent months working out how to do it.
The city is annexing the lot on the right now. The engineer's email says the lot on the left is next. A thin strip is left in the county on purpose.
Swipe sideways to see the whole map.
If Metter took in all of this land, two neighbors (the Monroe and Bowen properties) would be county land surrounded by city land. So the engineers needed a strip of land to stay in the county, to keep those neighbors connected and inside the county.
Their first idea was a thin strip of land. The County Administrator said the county's rules don't allow that. The final and official suggestion, approved by the county in August, was a wider strip, about 11.5 acres, partly used as a stormwater pond.
That same email thread says what comes next: taking in "the Leslie Road tract that fronts I-16," the second piece of land.
Sources: emails of 5/28, 6/1, 7/23 (includes 6/2, 6/8, 6/12), 8/4, and 8/24; division plat. Obtained from Candler County through the Georgia Open Records Act.
This past July, the owners, Evangelina and Matthew Moghaddam, asked Metter to take in the Fortner Road lot. On September 14, the Metter City planning board recommended it, voting 3 to 2, and the City Council passed the first vote with every council member voting yes. The council has to vote one more time before the annexation is final. We don't have a date for that second vote yet, but suspect it will be in mid October.
The petition to annex the 990 Fortner Road parcel was signed July 20, 2026. The City notified Candler County by certified letter dated August 13, 2026, and set a public hearing on zoning the property as HOC (Highway Oriented Commercial) for September 14. The county had 30 days from receiving the annexation notice to object. WSAV reported the 3-2 city planning commission recommendation and the unanimous first reading.
Sources: annexation packet: survey, petition, deed, parcel map (PDF, 13 MB); City of Metter notice letter, 8/13/2026; acknowledgement form; City Clerk's email to the county, 8/14/2026; WSAV.
Not yet answered
These come straight from the records. Somebody should have to answer them in public.
The city's notice says the land will be zoned for stores and businesses (HOC). The developer's plans, drawn a month earlier, say industrial (LI). Industrial zoning allows very different things than commercial zoning. Nobody has said which one is accurate.
The Moghaddams bought the Fortner Road lot in December 2025 for $1.1 million. The county valued it at $158,296 that year, so they paid about 7 times the county's value. The state filing lists a company called Evans Real Estate Investors as the developer. No record we've seen names who would actually use the buildings.
Deed dated 12/19/2025, recorded 12/26/2025, Deed Book 329 p. 662. The county valued the parcel at $158,296 for 2025 and $331,938 for 2026. The owners' attorney is Chris Gohagan; Pape-Dawson Engineers drew the plans.
Sources: deed and parcel card (annexation packet); Candler County Tax Assessor record for parcel 037 021; DRI #4695.
Only the Fortner Road lot is before the city right now. The engineer's July email says the Leslie Road lot is next. We haven't seen that request yet.
Source: email, 7/23/2026.