It’s Not a Data Center, Then What Is It? – “Real Estate Matters” 5-16-26

For more than 11 years, Real Estate Matters has been the voice of real estate in Palm Coast and Flagler County, Florida. Veranda Bay, the new luxury Intracoastal Community in Flagler Beach, sponsors the show.

Cable Landing Station – not a data center

What effect will a new undersea cable landing station have on a local economy? I asked AI. Here is Gemini’s response.

Undersea cable landing stations (CLS) function as the physical “on-ramps” for the global internet. While the landing station itself is often a nondescript, high-security building with a small onsite staff, its presence can catalyze significant regional economic shifts. 

Watch the Poscast and read the Show Notes for more details.

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Be sure to check out the new Flagler County Map of Developments and Subdivisions.

Raw Show Notes

Our behind-the-scenes guide to the show’s flow, including topics we didn’t have time to get to on the show. This is raw and likely contains typos. Data reflects the date of the show’s recording.

Show Notes 5-16-2026

Recorded 5-14-2026

Welcome to the tranquil side of Florida. This is Real Estate Matters, the voice of real estate in Flagler County and Palm Coast for nearly 12 years.

I’m Toby Tobin, publisher of GoToby.com, and a Florida-licensed Realtor with Grand Living Realty. I’m joined by Co-host Annamaria Long from the Flagler Homebuilders Association, one of our sponsors.

Thanks to Our Sponsors:

• Our Lead Sponsor is Veranda Bay – A private developing community of lots and luxury homes on the Intracoastal Waterway in Flagler Beach, featuring custom homes by Olsen Homes, AR Homes by Arthur Rutenberg, ICI Homes, and Hulbert Homes. Newly opened sections feature homes by Toll Brothers and Dream Finders. To learn more, visit VerandaBay.com.
• Flagler County Home Builders Association
• Hammock Community Church – On A1A in The Hammock – Small enough to know you but large enough to serve you. North of the toll bridge with the message sign out front. It’s not just for Hammockians. Like me, many people cross the bridge.

Guest: None

May early stats

As of 5-14

• 90 SFR homes sold – at a median price of $370,000. DOM is 53. Last May, 245 SFR homes were sold at a median price of $365,000. DOM = 64 last year
• Trend continues
• Prices are stable
• Inventory down
• Pending sales up
• Building permits are down
• High-end and low-end of the market are strong. The middle market is sluggish
• GINNdex=2.68 vs 4.03 a year ago.

Cable Landing Station – not a data center

What effect will a new undersea cable landing station have on a local economy? I asked AI. Here is Gemini’s response.

Undersea cable landing stations (CLS) function as the physical “on-ramps” for the global internet. While the landing station itself is often a nondescript, high-security building with a small onsite staff, its presence can catalyze significant regional economic shifts.

The economic effects generally follow a three-tier progression:

1. Direct Infrastructure & Utility Gains

Initially, the most visible impact is the physical investment in the site.

• Property Values & Tax Revenue: The construction of a CLS often involves multi-million dollar investments in high-tech equipment and specialized facility management. This can increase local property tax yields and provide a steady revenue stream for municipal services.
• Construction & Specialized Maintenance: Local engineering, electrical, and security firms often benefit during the build phase and via long-term maintenance contracts for the facility’s redundant power systems and climate control.

2. The “Connectivity Dividend” (Digital Ecosystem)

The real value of a CLS is not the building, but the bandwidth it provides.

• Reduced Latency & Costs: By bringing the “backbone” of the internet directly to a city, local businesses experience lower latency (faster data transfer). This makes the area highly attractive to bandwidth-intensive industries like high-frequency trading, fintech, and digital media.
• Data Center Clustering: Where cables land, data centers often follow. These facilities need to be as close to the landing station as possible to maximize speed. This “clustering effect” creates a local tech hub, bringing in auxiliary jobs in IT, cybersecurity, and cloud management.

3. Broad Macroeconomic Spillovers

Over the long term, a landing station can modernize the broader regional economy.

• GDP & Productivity Boost: Studies have shown that a 10% increase in broadband penetration can lift a region’s GDP growth rate by roughly 1.2 percentage points. The high-speed connectivity allows local small businesses to compete in global markets more effectively.
• Job Market Transformation: While the CLS itself might only employ a dozen people, the secondary effects—such as attracting tech startups or enabling remote work for high-skill professionals—can shift a local workforce from traditional sectors (like manufacturing or retail) toward high-value services.
• Resilience: Having a local landing station makes the regional internet more resilient. In the event of a terrestrial network failure elsewhere, the local economy remains “on the grid,” protecting financial transactions and supply chain communications.

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Summary of Economic Impact

Factor	Local Effect
Employment	Low direct jobs; high indirect growth in tech and services.
Business Environment	Attracts data centers, ISPs, and fintech companies.
Infrastructure	Modernizes local power and telecommunication grids.
Market Stability	Increases regional internet reliability and redundancy.

The landing station will have a closed-loop water cooling system. Similar to the radiator in your car.

Western expansion represents an opportunity for technology growth, including data centers.

We missed a great opportunity when we turned down the foundational utility franchise fee (up to 6%)

What we’re not measuring:

FSBO- estimated to be well under 10%

Custom builders – largely a high-end market

New build on an owner’s lot

I looked at the first four months of $1M+ home sales reported via MLS, then cross-referenced this list with Clerk of Court deed filings.

MLS – 45

Non MLS – 11 (five form ICI Homes in Plantation Bay

Tracking down owner lot builds is really complicated. No source for the “all in” price. No real estate deeds with the total cost since the new build is simply an improvement.

HB 657 passed by the state house – failed in the Senate

HOAs are the smallest yet most powerful form of government, according to the bill’s author

State-funded court process to replace the mediation process

Provide for the dissolution of HOAs

Make state law superior to HOA docs for new associations

Not doing so well in the Senate

SB 856 will require tax estimate for listings – failed to pass

SB 1293 will make it a felony to use a forged lease to occupy property – passed Senate messaged to House

Other observations:

The current Freddie Mac 30-year fixed rate is 6.36%

Nearly everyone who complains about stick houses likely lived in a frame house before they moved here.

Large lot sizes are not eco-friendly

A zero-lot-line means you can build to the line. It does not mean narrow lots.

The new proposal adds 10,000 residential units but also doubles the acreage, thus not affecting the overall density.

Ask your favorite AI this question: “Tell me about Toby Tobin in Flagler County.” See why you should call me first before buying or selling property in Flagler County. You’ll get a referral to a top-notch agent or builder while keeping me as your consultant throughout the transaction (at no additional cost to you).

Wrap up:

Video podcasts of Real Estate Matters are available on GoToby.com. Click on Podcasts on the top navigation bar. Show notes are included so you can see what we didn’t get to on the show. Also on GoToby.com – the Flagler County Interactive map of residential developments and subdivisions, updated regularly.

If you have a question or a suggestion for Real Estate Matters or GoToby.com, reach out to me.

(386) 931-7124 or email me at Toby@GoToby.com

Westward development is “inevitable.” The process of negotiating the new MPD will be similar to that used for the two unbuilt developments.