Proposed data center in Taylor draws pushback from community

TAYLOR, Texas - A proposed billion-dollar data center is drawing pushback from the community in Taylor. 

The city says the project could bring millions in new revenue while some residents are raising concerns about its impact on the community. 

The backstory:

A proposed 135,000 square foot data center is drawing attention across Taylor. The facility would house computers used for a variety of purposes, including data storage, website hosting, artificial intelligence processing, and more. 

The city says the project will be planned out in three phases totaling an investment of $1 billion.

The proposed site is located on the southeast side of town just inside Carlos G Parker Boulevard between Martin Luther King Boulevard and the railroad tracks.

The facility is expected to feature three buildings, an electricity substation to power it, backup power generators, and a closed-loop cooling system.

The developer, Blueprint Projects, recently purchased the land from the Taylor Economic Development Corporation for $10 million.

The property was sold to the Texas Park and Recreation Foundation by the Bland family back in 1999 to be held in trust for future use as parkland by Williamson County.

Since 2005, the property has been zoned for industrial use. In 2023, the property was designated as an employment center. 

"Our biggest problem with that data center is not even against data centers in general, but that industry doesn’t belong on that land. It was never meant for that land, that land was deeded to be parkland for Taylor over 30 years ago and that institutional knowledge got lost, and it got sold for $10 million for a data center," said Carrie D’Anna with the Halt Taylor Data Center Coalition. 

The city says the project could generate $30 million in additional revenue that can both be used to reduce property taxes and investment in streets, sidewalks, parks, and other services.

The school district estimates the development could bring as much as $20 million that could be used to improve facilities, increase teacher wages, and provide a better education for students.

The other side:

Some residents near the property are against the project.

Concerns include noise, light pollution, electro-magnetic fields, water pollution and pollution, and air pollution and contamination.

Residents are also concerned that the building will be an eyesore and hurt property values.

"This is really citizen-led people who care about their community, care about their land, care about their resources. We love innovation, and we love that Taylor is growing, but we don’t want to do that and forsake our freedom or our resources and don’t want to have to give up things that are good for our kids and future generations," said D’Anna.

Those concerns led to the creation of the "Halt Taylor data center coalition."

On Thursday night, the group delivered a citizen ordinance and petition of 14,000 signatures collected to the Taylor City Council. 

The group held a celebration at Heritage Park to celebrate the delivery. 

The group says the ordinance removes data centers from all existing zoning districts and prohibits approvals until the city adopts a dedicated digital infrastructure zoning district. 

"Our petition forces standards in four areas: water limits, safeguarding our local water supply from heavy cooling systems, noise caps, enforcing low decibel limits on industrial fans and generations, setbacks, mandatory buffers to keep these giant warehouses away from neighborhoods, impact studies and mandatory environmental study for any facility within 1,000 feet of our homes," said one Taylor resident. 

What's next:

The city of Taylor says it respects and welcomes the public's participation in their local government and any materials submitted to the city will be reviewed. 

To break ground, the developer would still have to secure the city’s approval for building permits. 

This process has not yet begun. 

What they're saying:

The city of Taylor's full response is below:

"The City of Taylor respects and welcomes the public's participation in their local government. Our residents have the right to express their views on issues before the community, including through speaking before City Council, petitions, and other lawful processes, and we encourage civic engagement from all members of the public. Any materials submitted to the City will be reviewed and handled in accordance with applicable law and City procedures. 

The developer has not advanced the project with the City beyond the Employment Center Plan, which was approved in 2025. To break ground, the developer would still have to secure the City’s approval for platting and building permits. This process has not yet been initiated."

TaylorTechnology