Red Oak, Lancaster, Wilmer Stack 36 Data Centers in the Pipeline

Red Oak has nine data centers operating today and 14 more either planned or under construction, according to a mapping project by NBC 5 Investigates built on records from Cleanview and Datacenter Map. Lancaster counts three facilities under construction and 11 more in its pipeline. Wilmer has one center in place and 11 new ones planned. Combined, the three communities south of downtown Dallas hold 10 operating centers and roughly four times that number on the way, clustered along Interstate 35 and extending east toward Interstate 45.

John McWilliams, who studies data center development for Cushman & Wakefield, points to power availability, major fiber connections, and the pull of an established market. "Everybody wants to be where everybody already is, right?" McWilliams said. He said Dallas leads a Texas market on track to pass Virginia as the nation's largest data center location, and that power consumption in the Dallas market could nearly double within three to five years based on projects already under construction. McWilliams's recent study ranked Dallas the top primary data center market in the world.

Haynes Strader, chief development officer at Dallas-based Skybox, said the region sits on fiber routes long used to move data between the West Coast and the East Coast. He also placed south Dallas at a power crossroads between West Texas and North Texas where excess capacity has been available for years. Skybox is building a 100-acre campus in Lancaster, a city whose council has welcomed this construction. The company said it aims to build in industrial areas rather than near homes, and that its facilities produce millions in tax revenue for cities such as Lancaster. Strader expects the building to continue for five to 10 years.

Not everyone nearby shares that view. Red Oak resident Chris Villegas said he learned through social media that a data center was planned just beyond the fence line of his family's home, after he moved there seeking a country lifestyle near the city. He said he is not against all data centers but does not think Red Oak needs more, especially close to homes. He and his wife helped start a local group calling for "no more data centers." Neighbor Lacey Hammel worries that more development will raise land values and let growth continue unchecked. Both fear years of construction traffic, noise, new electric lines, and effects on home values. "A lot of our neighbors' farms, a lot of our neighbors' homes, they're going to be right in the sacrifice zone," Hammel said. NBC 5 Investigates contacted Compass Data Centers, which plans to build near Villegas's home, and did not hear back.

Red Oak Mayor Mark Stanfill said in a statement that he understands no one wants development next to them, but argued the benefits outweigh the concerns. Residents have long asked for parks, road repairs, and lower taxes, he wrote, and data centers are how the city pays for them. In his view, a data center is a better deal for a city than a giant new neighborhood.

State policy could alter the count. Gov. Greg Abbott recently paused state permits for data centers while regulators audit large projects seeking to connect to the grid, and the Texas Legislature is expected to take up new data center rules starting in January. Hammel said the pace worries her most: "So much, so fast, is really what worries me because there's so much unknowns right now."