A Denver-based data center builder is looking to tap into the growing hub in the Austin-San Antonio area.
Tract is building three more data centers in the region: two in the San Antonio metro area and one in the Austin metro area.
Together, the planned developments will comprise nearly 3,600 acres of land and an energy demand of up to 5,200 megawatts, or enough electricity to power 1.3 million homes on a hot day. An acre is roughly the size of a football field.
The largest of the three, characterized as a “mega-campus” as it spans almost 3,000 acres and has a capacity for 4,000 megawatts, will be in Caldwell Valley in Caldwell County, in the southeastern section of the Austin metro area, Tract said. The region already has lured other data center projects, including a $1.3 billion campus comprising eight data centers planned by Prime Data Centers. The boom spurred Caldwell County commissioners to pass a resolution in mid-May calling on the state to beef up regulation of data centers.
“The Court formally expresses opposition to the use of open-loop evaporative cooling systems or other high-volume potable water consumption technologies in large-scale, high continuous-load data center facilities within water-constrained regions, absent demonstrated sustainable supply and mitigation safeguards,” the resolution said. “The Court further opposes any data center development that fails to incorporate adequate
safeguards to protect county resources and residents.”
Tract estimates that its Caldwell County project will be connected to the power grid and running in 2028.
The third project will be on the far West Side, a hot spot for data centers because of access to power and fiber infrastructure, fairly flat topography and the distance from hazards such as airports, dams and water towers. The 265-acre Medina Technology Park will be adjacent to Microsoft’s campus in Castroville. The 500-megawatt facility will be serviced by the Medina Electric Cooperative and East Medina County Special Utility District, according to Tract’s website.
Tract currently operates in seven states, with the highest concentration of projects — five — in Nevada. In Arizona, Tract took over a stalled residential development in 2024 and turned it into a $20 billion data center complex stretching across 2,000 acres, according to a report by Grist. Tract lists all of the projects, including the Arizona and Texas ones, as being in development.
Tract did not respond to a request for comment.