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What is the Bisnow DICE Series?
DICE (Data Centers Investment Conference & Expo) is Bisnow's dedicated conference series for the data center industry. Each event convenes the developers, investors, operators and infrastructure providers actively shaping data center growth in that market, with programming built around the deals, challenges and opportunities specific to the region or topic. View all upcoming DICE events here!
Are you an end user?
Hyperscalers, colocation providers (non-sales), investors, private equity, or enterprise tenants - email Virginia.Baker@bisnow.com to be considered for a complimentary pass.
Speakers and Panels
Featured Speakers
)
Bill Stein
Partner and Chief Investment Officer
Primary Digital Infrastructure
)
Jerry Blair
Co-Founder
DataBank
)
Mark Milliet
Manager, Construction
T5 Data Centers
)
Chelsea Kulhanek
Director of Land Acquisition
DAMAC Digital
)
Jon Gibbs
VP, Development
Core Scientific
)
Amanda Abell
VP, Sustainability
Stream Data Centers
)
Luke Peters
VP, Data Center Construction
Prologis
Agenda
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
|
7:30 AM
8:30 AM
|
Registration, Breakfast and Networking
|
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8:30 AM
9:15 AM
|
Who Pays and Who Benefits: Tax Breaks, City Deals and the Local Math of a Data Center Campus
Incentives get treated as the price of admission and local governments as the willing party. Both assumptions are under pressure as states revisit tax exemptions and residents question abatements for campuses that employ few people once built. Compare what cities, counties and school districts actually collect against what they forgo, identify how developers should underwrite a campus if incentives narrow and examine which community commitments survive a council vote. |
|
9:15 AM
10:00 AM
|
Site Selection Without the Safety Net: What Power, Zoning and Proof Now Require Before a Land Contract Goes Hard
Site selection has long run on a simple formula: available power plus industrial land in a friendly jurisdiction equals a buildable project. Each part of that is being retested. Utility queues are crowded with speculative requests, regulators are asking developers to prove what they control and can finance and cities that once allowed data centers by right are reconsidering how they are zoned. Compare how developers are scoring sites on municipal posture, utility proximity, water, fiber and noise buffers, identify which Central Region submarkets still offer entitlement certainty and examine what diligence has to be finished before a land contract goes hard. |
|
10:00 AM
10:30 AM
|
Networking Break
|
|
10:30 AM
11:15 AM
|
Designing for the Hearing Room: How Water, Noise and Mechanical Choices Now Decide Entitlements
Community opposition still gets treated as a communications problem to solve once the design is done. Across the Central Region and beyond, councils are weighing moratoria and tighter rules over water use, noise and neighborhood impact. Regulators increasingly ask whether a project brings and reuses its own water. Those objections trace back to design decisions about cooling architecture, equipment placement, setbacks and sound attenuation. Identify which choices are winning approvals, where early water and noise commitments change the outcome of a hearing and how teams price them before the site plan locks. |
|
11:15 AM
12:00 PM
|
Built for the Rack Nobody Has Shipped Yet: Designing Facilities for 600 kW Densities and 800 VDC
The default approach is to design for today's density and retrofit when the next generation arrives. Chip makers have signaled far higher rack densities and new power distribution approaches on a timeline shorter than most facility design cycles, so a building designed now will be asked to host both generations. Pin down which structural, electrical and cooling decisions have to be made before ground breaks, where building in headroom costs little versus where it strands capital and what owners now expect architects and engineers to guarantee. |
|
12:00 PM
1:00 PM
|
Lunch and Networking
|
|
1:00 PM
1:45 PM
|
Priced Before It's Drawn: Preconstruction, Early Procurement and Cost Certainty Before the Design Is Final
Preconstruction still gets treated as a bidding step that ends when a contract is signed. On data center projects it is where schedule is won or lost. Long lead times on transformers, switchgear and other electrical equipment mean it has to be committed while the design is still moving. Examine how owners and contractors use early contractor involvement, delivery method and early works packages to lock cost and equipment slots before drawings are final, where estimates break when density or scope changes mid-design and who carries the risk on deposits placed before approvals land. |
|
1:45 PM
2:15 PM
|
Networking Break
|
|
2:15 PM
3:00 PM
|
Power Is the Project: How Developers Are Combining Grid Service, On-Site Generation and Flexible Load to Energize Campuses
Power gets treated as a utility service to request once a site is secured. On large campuses it has become the project itself. Utility timelines are stretching, regulators are setting new terms for large loads and developers are weighing on-site generation, storage and flexible operation as ways to energize sooner, each with its own permitting, cost and reliability tradeoffs. Compare how teams sequence grid service against bridge power, identify where on-site generation works as a stopgap rather than a destination and examine what operators give up in flexibility and uptime to get energized earlier. |
|
3:00 PM
3:45 PM
|
Good Neighbors Before Groundbreaking: Community Engagement, Workforce Housing and the Local Footprint of a Data Center Build
Community engagement still gets treated as an approval-stage task: a few town halls, a fact sheet and a vote. The relationship is tested far more during construction, when thousands of workers arrive and traffic, noise and housing demand climb. A county feels the project long before it sees any benefit. Compare how developers and builders are engaging residents, local officials and schools from site selection through operations, weigh where workforce housing, transportation and local hiring and training build goodwill rather than strain it and examine what a campus leaves behind in a community once the build crews go. |
|
3:45 PM
5:00 PM
|
Networking Cocktail and Reception
|
Why Attend Central Region Data Center Construction, Design & Development Conference and Expo
Why This Matters
Data center development in the Central Region has moved past the question of whether demand is there. The harder questions now are where a project can be approved, who benefits locally, how it gets power and who builds it. Dozens of localities and several states are weighing bans, developers are rethinking how they approach the communities around them and record construction still is not closing the gap between demand and delivered capacity.
For the people who design, build and finance these projects, speed to power is no longer the only measure of a good site. Entitlements, incentives, equipment lead times, power strategy and the labor to build all have to line up before ground breaks. The teams that sequence them well are the ones getting projects energized.
This event is built around those decisions. It is not a state-of-the-market overview. It is a practitioner-led, full-day conference in Dallas on March 23 focused on the construction, design and development choices that decide which Central Region projects get approved, built and energized.
What You'll Learn
How cities, counties and developers are weighing incentives, tax breaks and community commitments as the local math of a campus gets more scrutiny
What diligence on power, zoning and entitlements has to be finished before a land contract goes hard and which submarkets still offer certainty
How water, noise and mechanical decisions made at the design stage are deciding hearings and approvals
How design teams are preparing facilities for the next generation of rack density and power distribution without stranding capital
How owners and contractors use early procurement, delivery method and early works to lock cost and equipment slots before the design is final
How developers are combining grid service, on-site generation and flexible load to energize campuses sooner
How developers and builders are engaging communities from site selection through operations and where workforce housing and logistics fit into that relationship
Who You'll Network With
Data center developers, campus operators, hyperscaler real estate and infrastructure leads, equity investors, debt lenders, general contractors, specialty subcontractors, architects and engineers, utility and interconnection consultants, site selection advisors, equipment suppliers and public sector leaders active across Dallas-Fort Worth and the broader Central Region.
Articles You Should Read!
14 States, Dozens Of Localities Consider Bans On Data Centers
'Playing Catch-Up': Rising Backlash Forces Data Center Developers To Rethink Community Strategy
Record Data Center Construction Still Falling Way Short Of Soaring Demand
For questions or interests in becoming a speaker or sponsor, please email our global director, data centers, Adam Knobloch, at adam.knobloch@bisnow.com
To request disability-related accommodations, please contact ally.araco@bisnow.com no later than seven business days prior to the event.
Silver Sponsors
)
Join Us for the Central Data Center Golf Tournament
Make a day of it. Join the data center and digital infrastructure community on the course the day before the conference for time with the owners, developers, investors, operators and partners shaping the Central Region's market.
Monday, March 22, 2027, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Venue and additional details will be announced soon.
Tickets
Super Early Bird
$429.00 /ticket
Save the most on the final registration price by registering now!
Data Center AECs, GCs & Utility Contractors Pass
$249.00 /ticket
To qualify for this rate, you must hold a director-level role or above and your company must be an:
- Architect or Engineering Firm
- General Contractor
- EPC (Engineering, Procurement & Construction)
- MEP Contractor (Mechanical, Electrical or Plumbing)
- Utility Contractor
**Anyone registering for this pass who does not meet the above criteria is subject to registration cancellation.
Data Center Owners/Operators, Developers, Investors & Hyperscalers Pass
To qualify for this rate, you must hold a director-level role or above at one of the company types below, with substantial data center assets under management (AUM) or publicly announced data center projects:
- Hyperscaler
- Data Center Developer
- Data Center Owner/Operator
- Investor or Private Equity Firm
Questions about eligibility? Email virginia.baker@bisnow.com
**Anyone registering for this pass who does not meet the above criteria is subject to registration cancellation.
PS - Want the attendee list for free?
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