Data centers converge on area to meet tech needs From the cover
Demand for data centers
Two-minute impact
demand for at least the next 10 years, if not more.” Noonan said that many in the industry believe the AI demand will be the biggest wave. A professor from the computer science depart- ment at The University of Texas, Katrin Erk, said today’s AI is based on machine learning models and relies on massive amounts of data. “These things really need tons and tons of data in order to learn,” Erk said. “… People may also want to store data that these systems can be applied to.”
Some experts predict the demand for data centers will continue to increase as a new era of AI reaches the business sector, Noonan said. “Data centers in general have kind of seen three waves, or three seasons of life. The first one, obviously being the internet, prompted the need to build these stand-alone buildings to house all the servers and the storage,” Noonan said. “It migrated to the cloud. … Now we’re on the third wave, which is the AI wave. It is projected to drive data center
A wave of recent data center development is adding to the growing technology landscape found in Central Texas. Round Rock, Pflugerville and Hutto appear to be taking great strides in the sector, with industry giants Switch, Sabey Data Centers and Skybox Datacenters each breaking ground on campuses in the area in recent years. Mark Noonan, Sabey’s Austin-based senior vice president of product development, noted that the rise of artificial intelligence, or AI, programs in the technology and business sectors has led to a similar increase in the demand for cloud storage. “Every type of business of a certain scale is going to find a way to use AI to make their business that much smarter, faster and user friendly,” Noonan said. Data centers, like Sabey, have found the area attractive as the area offers a business- friendly environment in a deregulated energy market outside Austin city limits, Noonan said.
The framework
Switch and Sabey to be among the top 10 property taxpayers in coming years. Industry experts from both Round Rock and Pflugerville also anticipate generating sales tax revenue from the substantial personal property taxes associated with these data centers. Personal property refers to the taxable posses- sions that businesses own. This could include office supplies, IT equipment, furniture and other equipment that can be removed from the site.
While cities often maintain a diversified business market, data centers present a “unicorn development” opportunity, Hutto’s Director of Economic Development Cheney Gamboa said. Data centers present significant economic oppor- tunities for Round Rock, Pflugerville and Hutto. “Skybox’s data center campus has the poten- tial—very key word, ‘potential’—to double the current property tax base,” Gamboa said. City of Round Rock officials estimate both
What is a data center? Data centers include storage and processing equipment for digital information. Computing servers and equipment work together to store, manage and deliver data for various online services and applications. The types of information stored could include: • user account details • financial transactions • emails • social media posts • any data needed to be stored and accessed over the internet
Data center New jobs * Total expected investment ** Agreements
Location
Switch, Round Rock
$250 million
15
Economic Development Program Agreement with the city of Round Rock
45 TOLL
GREENLAWN BLVD.
N
Sabey, Round Rock
$190 million
30
Economic Development Incentive Agreement with the city of Round Rock
DOUBLE CREEK DR.
Why Round Rock area?
45 TOLL
A.W. GRIMES BLVD.
N
Deregulated energy market in which energy consumers have the freedom to choose their provider from various competing companies
Skybox, Pflugerville
$548 million
10
Economic Development Agreement with the Pflugerville Community Development Corporation
45 TOLL
M EISTER LN.
Local economic incentives
HEATHERWILDE BLVD.
N
Capacity for expansive data center development Proximity to established technology hub in Austin
Skybox, Hutto
$10 billion
90-150
Tax abatement with the city of Hutto
LIMMER LOOP
79
3349
N
SOURCE: SABEY DATA CENTER, CITY OF HUTTO/COMMUNITY IMPACT
*NEW JOBS DO NOT INCLUDE CONSTRUCTION POSITIONS. **INVESTMENT AMOUNT OUTLINED IN PERFORMANCE AGREEMENTS MAY DIFFER FROM THE EXPECTED TOTAL INVESTMENT LISTED ABOVE.
SOURCES: CITY OF ROUND ROCK, CITY OF PFLUGERVILLE, CITY OF HUTTO/COMMUNITY IMPACT
24
COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM
Powered by FlippingBook