By Jim Ross
For HDMedia
Camp Conley — People who live near the data center Nscale is building north of Point Pleasant, Mason County, have the opportunity to sell their homes to the company, and some are doing so.
Jason Bechtle, site manager for Nscale, which is building the Monarch Compute Campus north of Point Pleasant, said the Good Neighbors Home Purchasing Program for 53 houses near the data center campus has begun.
“This program is designed specifically for the residents living in the Meadowlands Estates area that borders the Monarch Compute Campus,” Bechtle said in a phone interview Monday morning.
The data center is being built along W.Va. 62 north of Point Pleasant near the former Army National Guard building.
Construction on the data center began in April, and neighbors have complained about dust from earthmoving activity. A few weeks ago during a heavy rain, muddy water escaped from the construction site and entered at least five homes in the area of University Lane and Hawthorne Lane.
Voluntary buy-out could be expanded
The program is aimed at residences in the area behind the former National Guard building, Bechtle said. It’s completely voluntary, he said.
“For each one of the homes, that offer will be determined by reviewing three independent valuation methods and using the highest of those three as our baseline number with a material premium added on top of that, and additionally, Monarch is committed to covering all the closing costs,” Bechtle said.
“The homes that will be purchased through the program can be used for employee or contractor housing, as well as any other type of project-related purposes for Monarch.”
No residences purchased by Monarch are planned for demolition at present, Bechtle said.
“There is another area of homes (near the Monarch site), but we are just focused on Meadowlands Estates,” he said.
Reaction from realtor
Point Pleasant Realtor Sandy Dunn is handling local contacts for Monarch. She said Monday that she has not contacted all property owners in the program area, but so far 10 of the 53 property owners have signed to sell, and more have expressed interest.
She said three property owners called her this past weekend about possibly selling.
“I haven’t knocked on doors yet, because I haven’t had to, but I probably will before it’s all said and done, just to make sure that no one gets left out,” she said Monday.
“The people that I have talked with have been absolutely nothing but nice. I mean, they have not been argumentative. They have not been nasty. I really expected to get — you know — a different response, and the response couldn’t be any nicer.”
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