Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin says his wife had nothing to do with the chain of property deals that delivered an 80-acre Oxmoor Valley site to Nebius Inc. for $90 million, after plaintiffs in a lawsuit over the hyperscale data center project named Kendra Woodfin and her real estate firm in a proposed subpoena. The mayor's pushback comes as residents fighting the project seek documents from Iron City Premier Realty, the brokerage Kendra Woodfin founded and where she serves as broker, as part of a sprawling discovery fight over how the land was assembled and sold.
Mayor Says Wife Is Uninvolved
Kendra Woodfin was named in a proposed subpoena for records filed September 18 in connection with the Nebius data center lawsuit, according to AL.com. Mayor Woodfin said Kendra Woodfin and Iron City Premier Realty have nothing to do with the hyperscale data center project in Oxmoor Valley or the property at 201 Milan Parkway, per the same report. Attorney Amaobi Enyinnia, representing Iron City Premier Realty, filed an objection on October 1 arguing the proposed subpoena is a fishing expedition and should not issue, the outlet reported.
The dispute is part of a consolidated lawsuit filed against Nebius Inc., Hoar Construction and the City of Birmingham. Oxmoor Valley residents first asked ten parties to produce documents on September 16, then expanded that request six days later to include Kendra Woodfin and Iron City Premier Realty among the ten targets, the station's report notes. A hearing on objections to the proposed subpoenas is scheduled for Monday before Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Javan Patton Crayton.
How the Land Changed Hands So Fast
The subpoena fight traces back to a rapid cascade of property transactions in the fall of 2025. Public records show the 201 Milan Parkway property sold from Regions Bank to Lakeshore Data Center LLC for $17.2 million, then changed hands again just 16 minutes later for $27 million, according to BirminghamWatch. All parcels were eventually assembled and sold to Nebius affiliate Alabama ADC Holdings LLC for $90 million, with the 16-minute resale alone generating a $9.8 million markup before the final 80-acre assembly, BirminghamWatch reported.
Robert and Gail Sansome, who live less than 1,000 feet from the development in Oxmoor Corporate Park, first filed the lawsuit in June, arguing Nebius orchestrated an inflated purchase for the 75-acre property and rushed its permits before the city's data center moratorium took effect. City officials have maintained that planned mixed-use district zoning already allowed data centers on the site. The proposed subpoenas seek transactions, contracts, agreements, agent information, compensation details, communications and meeting records tied to the property sale, along with documents related to the City of Birmingham and the Industrial Development Board, which granted tax incentives to Nebius.
Other Targets Push Back on Subpoenas
Kendra Woodfin and her firm aren't the only parties resisting the discovery push. Plaintiffs have proposed subpoenaing U.S. Steel Corporation, Alabama Power Company, Regions Bank, Herndon, Hicks & Associates Inc., and Raeden RE LLC. Regions Bank objected on September 30, arguing the requested information is not relevant to the case.
The legal fight has grown more complicated in recent months. Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Tamara Harris Johnson abruptly recused herself on July 2 during a three-day preliminary injunction hearing, citing a prior professional relationship with a plaintiffs' attorney, according to the Birmingham Times. That recusal forced both sides to restart arguments on preliminary motions before the case landed with Judge Crayton, who on September 17 consolidated three separate lawsuits — including filings by Oxmoor Valley residents and the Greater Birmingham Humane Society — into a single proceeding, according to WBHM. The Humane Society joined the litigation because it had planned an animal medical treatment facility on land adjacent to the construction site, WBHM reported.
A Moratorium That Didn't Apply
Much of the residents' frustration stems from timing. The Birmingham City Council unanimously enacted a six-month moratorium on new data center applications on March 3, but city officials determined Nebius was exempt because its permit applications had been submitted before the pause took effect. Plaintiffs allege in court filings that the city permitted the project prematurely to help developers evade the impending moratorium, per BirminghamWatch's reporting.
The city has since updated its regulatory framework. The Birmingham City Council voted 6-3 in June to pass a new zoning ordinance imposing 20 protective conditions on hyperscale data centers, though residents protested the removal of a special exception clause that had required public zoning hearings, the Birmingham Times reported. Council members Darrell O'Quinn, Wardine Alexander and Sonja Smith voted against the measure following hours of public opposition.
Billions in Incentives and Construction Already Underway
The financial stakes extend well beyond the land sale itself. The Birmingham Industrial Development Board voted 6-0 on May 29 to approve a 30-year tax abatement package for Nebius and Alabama ADC Holdings LLC, offering a 65% non-education property tax abatement and an 80% construction sales tax abatement tied to a projected $35.9 billion investment over 30 years. The agreement contains no upfront cash incentives and includes clawback provisions requiring Nebius to repay incentives if payroll commitments are missed, according to the Birmingham Times.
Meanwhile, construction has moved forward regardless of the litigation. The city issued $40 million in initial construction permits to general contractor Hoar Construction in May, following an initial demolition permit granted in January, according to The Bama Buzz. Work was proceeding 12 hours a day, six days a week as of late summer. Nebius plans two data center buildings spanning 450,000 square feet at the site, with the company saying the project will create 78 permanent jobs and use about 700,000 gallons of water annually after Central Alabama Water provides the initial input into its closed-loop cooling system.
Backed by Billions in AI Contracts
Nebius Group N.V., headquartered in Amsterdam and led by CEO Arkady Volozh, was created after splitting from Russian technology conglomerate Yandex N.V., and the company secured a $2 billion investment commitment from Nvidia in March, according to Rolling Out. Volozh previously faced European Union sanctions that were lifted in March 2024 following the full divestment of Russian operations. The company has also locked in major AI cloud supply deals, including a $17 billion revenue agreement with Microsoft in September 2025 and a $27 billion agreement with Meta, and now carries a market capitalization of over $40 billion, Rolling Out reported.
The Birmingham fight is unfolding alongside a broader statewide reckoning over data centers' energy demands. In September, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Doug Jones called for a one-year statewide moratorium on data center development in Alabama, citing analyses showing proposed data centers could consume more electricity than all Alabama homes combined, per BirminghamWatch. State lawmakers also introduced the Affordability Protection Plan earlier in 2026 to prevent data center infrastructure costs from shifting onto residential utility customers.
With Monday's hearing looming, it remains unresolved whether Judge Crayton will allow the third-party subpoenas targeting Kendra Woodfin, Iron City Premier Realty and others to proceed, and how the consolidated lawsuit will ultimately address the validity of municipal permits issued before Birmingham's updated data center zoning ordinance took effect.
