A Dallas firm secured a $2 billion construction loan for its massive data center campus south of the city.
DataBank announced Tuesday that the loan will fund the first three of eight planned data centers at its 300-acre Red Oak campus on Stainback Road. The facilities, called DFW 9, DFW 10 and DFW 11, have already been leased. They total 600,000 square feet and 180 megawatts of power.
Representatives for the data center firm indicated in state filings that interior work on two of the buildings was to start soon. The firm plans to fill out both two-story buildings with data rack containment, tenant storage and office space, according to Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation filings.
Texas in general, and the D-FW in particular, are ground zero for explosive data center growth driven by the global buildout of artificial intelligence technology. According to JLL data, data center construction in the Lone Star State is entering “hyperdrive” and is projected to overtake Virginia as the world’s largest hub for data centers by 2030.
DataBank is expected to spend $301 million on the DFW 10 interior. The project was registered with state officials in mid-March. The estimated completion date is January 2027.
The firm will spend an estimated $315 million on the DFW 11 additions. The project was registered March 30, and construction is expected to finish March 2027.
DataBank did not immediately respond to questions regarding the project when the filings became public. TDLR filings are preliminary and subject to change without notice.
The new loan is the largest in the company’s history and follows announcements of a $1.6 billion credit facility and extension and a $1.1 billion hyperscale securitization, bringing the company’s total financing to $4.7 billion in the last year.
The firm said the loan fits within its “green financing framework,” which mandates the facility meet specific power usage requirements as well as criteria for water conservation and carbon emissions reduction. It contributes to DataBank’s goal to be carbon neutral by 2030.
“This financing, combined with existing power commitments, accelerates DataBank’s construction and delivery timelines for this campus by approximately 18 months,” Kevin Ooley, the firm president and CFO, said in a statement. “It ensures our customer will be able to bring critical capacity to market on time and further solidifies Dallas as a core metro for Internet and AI infrastructure.”
MUFG Bank Ltd. was the administrative agent, coordinating lead arranger and sole bookrunner on the transaction. Digital infrastructure banks and institutional lenders supported the transaction. Law firm Davis Polk was DataBank’s legal adviser for the transaction.
Business Insider reported that MUFG is leading a separate, ongoing effort to raise $600 million loan for a fourth building. The buildings have been leased by a major hyperscaler, but the firm did not identify the tenant.
When finished, portions of Ellis and southern Dallas County continue to be a hotbed for data center projects. North Texas has commissioned nearly 3 gigawatts worth of data centers and more than 10 gigawatts are planned, making the region one of the largest and fastest-scaling data center markets.
A data center campus with peak demand of one gigawatt is roughly equivalent to the average annual consumption of about 700,000 homes, or a city of around 1.8 million people, according to a CNBC analysis that used data from the Department of Energy and Census Bureau.