Residents listened to a presentation given at Rolling Hills Elementary School by representatives from Edged Data Centers, hoping to cinch an economic development agreement with Fort Worth for a $1.1 billion data center.
Emily Holshouser
There were few empty seats in the Rolling Hills Elementary School auditorium on March 24 in west Fort Worth as residents questioned the developers of a proposed $1.1 billion data center in west Fort Worth about the project’s environmental impact, potential noise levels, and concerns about how communities are notified about zoning changes.
Residents listened to a presentation given by representatives from Edged Data Centers, a subsidiary of sustainable infrastructure company Endeavor, which is hoping to secure an economic development agreement with the city of Fort Worth to develop a data center on the fast-growing west side of the city near Benbrook.
In 2025, the city of Fort Worth rezoned roughly 186 acres near Interstate 20 and Aledo Road, near the 5,200 acre Veale Ranch, owned by Dallas-based PMB Capital Investments.
On March 4, the Fort Worth City Council at its work session discussed an economic development agreement which could offer Edged Data Centers a 50% break on property taxes for 10 years, in exchange for jobs and investments.
The proposal has raised questions among residents, including those in the Markum Ranch, Ventana, and Skyline Ranch developments, who met on March 17 to discuss their concerns.
Developers — as well as Fort Worth District 3 council member Michael Crain — had organized the meeting after residents formed the 2871 Community Coalition to educate each other and build an organizing strategy as the development picks up steam.
On deck to present was PMB Capital partner Taylor Baird and Edged Data Centers chief investment officer John Callahan, along with representatives from the city of Fort Worth.
“Fort Worth is growing,” said Fort Worth District 3 council member Michael Crain at the outset of the meeting. “What I’ll often hear our mayor say is ‘you can either live in a dying city or a growing city, I can tell you which one I want.’ That being said, we have to do it the right way.”
Crain requested an informal report on data centers from city staff on Monday, March 23.
Baird introduced himself to the crowd and insisted that the Veale Ranch development is his family’s home, not just an investment prospect.
“There have not been very many days where I’m not poured into this product,” Baird said. “It’s important to me. It’s personal to me.”
Baird said that PMB screened multiple development proposals for arriving at a data center.
“We have said no to dozens of users that wanted to come there because we did not feel they were right for this project,” Baird said. “We found out that there was power available to the area through the Benbrook switch station, and that informed our interest in pursuing a data center.”
The project, according to the economic development agreement, has already received approval to connect to transmission lines on the state’s power grid. When a developer wants to connect a data center — or any other large load project — to the Texas power grid, that company must undergo a transmission study to ensure that the grid has enough wiring to transmit power.
Edged will build a power substation on site to transmit power to the data center, according to the development agreement.
Callahan told the crowd that Edged, which has developed several other data centers around the country, was among the first users of waterless cooling technology for data centers and prioritizes sustainability.
“One of the things that you all can take comfort in is that we know what we’re doing, and we do this for the largest customers and largest tech companies,” Callahan said.
The 2871 Community Coalition has eight requests they want developers to meet as they negotiate with the city, including disclosures about water usage by the data center, an independent study on how much noise the data center would create, an environmental assessment, and financial transparency for the project.
Developers went through each of their demands, and mostly said that they had already met them or that they did not have to meet them.
Edged has already conducted environmental and auditory studies, Callahan said, finding that the maximum noise levels emitting from the data center would be lower than Fort Worth’s noise ordinance level – 60 decibels. Because of setbacks that Edged intends to build around the data center, Callahan said, it’s unlikely that residents will hear loud noises.
Those studies will not be shared, Callahan said, because of confidentiality agreements. But he insisted that their results support the development of the data center.
“You would not be able to raise capital if those studies weren’t done and if they weren’t clean,” Callahan said.
Another concern of residents was the condition of the RM 2871 road, a major thoroughfare in the area near the development that residents believe could get clogged up by construction traffic.
The Texas Department of Transportation has proposed a $198 million road-widening project for RM 2871, but that project has not been funded. The improvements would include an overpass bridge for RM 2871 over the Union Pacific Railroad and Aledo Road.
Crain said that the transportation infrastructure piece of the bond package that Fort Worth voters will vote on in May could help fund that project.
The developers emphasized the importance of Senate Bill 6, signed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott last year, which allows ERCOT to remotely disconnect data centers and other large energy users if the grid is under stress.
Edged would be required to pay for its own power, and the company is building an Oncor substation.
Residents met with developers and Crain for over two hours. The city’s strategy for notifying residents about zoning changes was a sticking point that Crain said he will work to address.
The Fort Worth City Council could vote on the economic development package at its meeting at 10 a.m. March 31 at the City Council Chamber, 100 Fort Worth Trail.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Emily Holshouser is a local news reporter at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.