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Dallas-based developer KDC is seeking approval to construct a large data center in Taylor, Texas, according to the Austin Business Journal.
The project would involve turning a 220-acre parcel at 1051 County Road 401, directly northeast of Samsung Electronics Co.’s factory, into a data center campus that would include space for other uses.
Last year, KDC and Austin-based landowner Prophet Capital Management made a deal to develop 150 acres of the site. The developer will now go before local zoning officials to seek permission to move forward with its plans
Some of the land earmarked for the plan is owned by CM Realty LLC, according to the ABJ.
Taylor, Texas, which boasts a population of 17,000 and sits approximately 30 miles northeast of Austin in Williamson County, has become something of a hub for large companies. Tesla has a 183K SF rail-serviced facility at Taylor Logistics Park, and Compal Electronics has 600K SF of manufacturing space spread across two industrial parks in Taylor and neighboring Georgetown.
The greater Austin-San Antonio data center market saw the fourth-most positive absorption of data center space in the country, only behind Northern Virginia, Dallas and Chicago, according to JLL. In fact, the Austin-San Antonio region has grown faster than any other data center market in the last five years.
That rapid expansion has come with growing local concern over such projects, however.
Earlier this year, a group of Taylor residents opposed the $1B Blueprint Projects data center. The Blueprint Projects plan calls for a 135K SF campus on 52 acres. Locals expressed concern about the proposed center’s environmental impact and its location near residential property, among other things.
In July, the Taylor City Council voted to allow the Blueprint data center to proceed. A subsequent lawsuit from five Taylor landowners was dismissed in October.
Legislators are increasingly examining ways to curb rising energy costs because of data center development. In June, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 6 into law, which mandates large energy users like data centers to fund infrastructure upgrades and ensure grid reliability.
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