The real story behind Lower Moncure Road and the data center proposal

Lee County must choose between preserving rural land and gaining millions in tax revenue as descendants of David Martin oppose PointOne’s Lower Moncure Road data center.

Attorney Eric Evenson and his wife, Donna Evenson, and daughter, Kristen Herrmann, are familiar faces in the Sanford Council Chambers and with the Lee County Commissioners because they are fighting the proposed data center on Lower Moncure Road.

Eric Evenson married Donna Martin, whose father built and owned South Hills Mall in Cary.

In 2014, Cary honored David Martin’s legacy for serving the community through business.

In 2026, Martin’s family is working to stop the data center because it is near rural farms and large family tracts, like theirs.

In 1939 to1949, areas outside of historic downtown Cary were mostly rural farms and large family tracts.

In 1961, real estate developer David Martin purchased a family farm and adjacent parcels now home to South Hill Mall. In Phase I, he built a service station and continued building through 1972 until he completed the Southland Center strategically placed between Buck Jones Road and U.S. Highway 1 and 64. Later, it was named South Hills Mall.

From 1972-2021, Cary’s first mall remained owned by the Martin family as South Hills Shopping Center, Inc.

After 50+ years of ownership, the Martins sold the mall for $38.4 million, according to the Triangle Business Journal in 2021.

In 2024, the data center developers purchased the land at 4079 Lower Moncure Road.

North Carolina follows buyer beware laws and requires real estate agents to conduct due diligence.

Today, Eric and Donna Evenson live in Cary. Their daughter, Kristen Herrmann, and her husband Nathan Herrmann sold their $895,000 home in Cary that her grandfather, David Martin, had sold to her, and they moved to Lee County in 2025 to Lower Moncure Road where they homeschool their children.

The Herrmann’s home is about three minutes from the site of the proposed data center at 4079 Lower Moncure Road.

In 1961, David Martin began changing geography from rural agriculture to commercial, and 65 years later in 2026, the Martin family descendants, with espoused Eric Evenson, are trying to stop development in rural agriculture where they live.

In May 2026, Eric and Donna Evenson purchased land next to their daughter and son-in-law for $525,000 on Lower Moncure Road and began building a home.

On June 6, 2026, PointOne Data Centers’ project manager, Jonathan Rhine, officially applied for a 301,535 square foot data center on 428.85 acres. PointOne’s conceptual master plan shows 11 proposed data-center buildings totaling approximately 2.45 million square feet.

Look at the 2024 aerial image over South Hills Shopping Center, Inc. Single-family homes dot the landscape around the commercial center. There are no farms.

The average Lee County citizen is fighting for mandated school buildings, smaller teacher-to-student ratios, affordable housing, decent roads and grocery substitutes for the healthier foods they purchased at affordable prices last year.

It is a fact that business property taxes are the backbone of the county, not residential.

A data center on Lower Moncure Road will generate less traffic with fewer employees than a manufacturing plant.

PointOne plans to develop the property, and CyrusOne, the owner, will operate the facility once it is built.

According to the Sanford Area Growth Alliance, CyrusOne plans a $900 million investment in Phase 1 for the infrastructure, without tax incentives or investments from the county.

Should all 11 buildings for the data center park gain approval, Lee County will benefit financially.

PointOne said Phase 1, costing $900 million, could generate over $1 million yearly in Lee County taxes. Multiply that times 11 for an estimate, and it melts a mountain off the required matching funds for a new middle school.

Lee County Schools is seeking up to $52 million from the state’s Needs-Based Public School Capital Fund toward a new 1,200-student middle school. The county’s adopted capital plan currently projects the school at $70.8 million after inflation, leaving roughly $18.8 million above the maximum state grant. The district also says Lee County would be responsible for a 5% local match and any costs exceeding the grant.

The conflict over Lower Moncure Road goes beyond a typical zoning issue. It questions whether the table of uses should identify data centers as light industry.

The controversy highlights an irony in the family’s history: Martin transformed rural land in Cary into a major commercial development, while his descendants now oppose large-scale development near their rural properties in Lee County.

Read Lee County Planning Board votes down rezoning 430 acres of countryside.

Sept. 17, 2026

Stephanie M. Sellers

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