MEMPHIS, Tenn. - An Ohio industrial contractor recorded two mechanics' liens on July 30 and 31 against the Memphis properties housing SpaceXAI's Colossus data centers, claiming a combined $136,892,782.78 for unpaid construction work.
The filings are public records. Instrument number 26064556, recorded July 30, claims $18,646,622.43 for work at 3231 Paul R. Lowry Road, the former Electrolux plant that houses the original Colossus site, with work stated to have run from March 10, 2024 to June 23, 2026. Instrument number 26064953, recorded July 31, claims $118,246,160.35 for work at 5420 Tulane Road in Whitehaven, the Colossus II site, with work stated to have run from February 27, 2025 to June 23, 2026.
The claimant is Darana Hybrid Inc., an electro-mechanical contractor based in Hamilton, Ohio.
These are allegations. A mechanics' lien is a filing a contractor may record asserting it is owed money. It is not a judgment, and no court has ruled on these claims. The property owners are entitled to contest them, and nothing in the public record establishes that any money is owed.
The detail worth noting
Neither lien names SpaceXAI. Both name MZX Tech LLC and CTC Property LLC as the contracting property owners, entities that appear to hold the Memphis campus.
That is ordinary corporate structure and is not by itself evidence of anything. It is worth stating plainly because it changes who a Memphis resident would need to look up to follow the money, and because agreements, incentives and permits attached to this campus may run to those entities rather than to the parent company whose name is on the building.
The 901 Report has not reviewed the organizing documents for either LLC and does not know their ownership. Both are searchable through the Tennessee Secretary of State's business filings.
What is claimed beyond the record
Darana Hybrid's chief executive, Darryl Cuttell, has told reporters the recorded liens represent only part of what he says is owed. He has put the larger figure at roughly $570 million against about $1.5 billion in total contracted work, according to the Daily Memphian, which reported the dispute first.
That larger figure is not in the recorded liens. The 901 Report is reporting it as a claim made by an interested party, because it has appeared widely, and distinguishing it from the $136.9 million that is actually on file at the Register of Deeds. Readers should hold those two numbers separately.
Darana Hybrid is not the only company with a claim. TorcSill Foundations has said SpaceXAI owes it $65,000 for two days of work at Colossus II. Reporting by the Memphis Business Journal, which broke the story, described several companies with liens filed against the project.
SpaceXAI had not responded to the Daily Memphian's request for comment as of its report, and neither the company nor Elon Musk has publicly addressed the claims.
Why It Matters for Memphis
The Colossus campus is not a private matter the way an ordinary business dispute is private.
It sits inside the Memphis Light, Gas and Water service territory and draws electrical load that has been the subject of a state law, a federal lawsuit and a congressional demand for site access. It has been the subject of a Clean Air Act suit brought by the Southern Environmental Law Center and Earthjustice on behalf of the NAACP over gas turbines operated without permits, a suit in which the U.S. Department of Justice has moved to intervene on the company's side. Its neighbors in Whitehaven and Southaven have filed nuisance claims. The company has said it will begin removing 69 temporary turbines in August 2026, finishing by July 2027, under an agreed order with Mississippi environmental regulators.
Against that record, whether the campus pays its contractors is a question about the reliability of the largest industrial development in recent Memphis history, one that local and state officials have made commitments around.
There is a fair reading on the other side. Payment disputes on billion-dollar construction projects are common, liens are a routine contractual remedy rather than a sign of insolvency, and a contractor's public account of what it is owed is one side of a negotiation. A lien can be released, bonded around, or settled without anyone conceding anything. None of this establishes wrongdoing.
Accountability Watch
Who is accountable: MZX Tech LLC and CTC Property LLC, named in the filings as the property owners. SpaceXAI, which operates the campus. Darana Hybrid Inc., which recorded the claims and bears the burden of proving them.
What is pending: Any response, contest, bond or release by the property owners, and any enforcement action by the claimant. No court has ruled.
Timeline: Work claimed at the Lowry Road site beginning March 10, 2024, and at the Tulane Road site beginning February 27, 2025, both stated to run through June 23, 2026. Lien recorded July 30, 2026 on Lowry Road. Lien recorded July 31, 2026 on Tulane Road.
Status as of August 3, 2026: Unadjudicated. The 901 Report has identified no response from the named property owners and no court ruling.
How to verify: Search instrument numbers 26064556 and 26064953 at the Shelby County Register of Deeds, which is free and searchable by the public. Look up MZX Tech LLC and CTC Property LLC in the Tennessee Secretary of State business filings. Property ownership and assessment for both parcels are available through the Shelby County Assessor.