A $1 billion data center is headed to Georgetown, with developers behind the project saying it has a good chance of becoming the city's largest taxpayer once built. The facility is described as supporting the digital infrastructure behind everyday services like online banking, streaming and healthcare records.
The project was detailed Thursday by The Business Journals, which reported on the planned $1 billion investment and the developers' projection about the city's tax rolls. Georgetown has increasingly become a hub for data center suppliers, the outlet reported, and the city continues to attract interest from developers looking to build in the area.
Part of a Bigger Texas Build-Out
Georgetown is hardly alone in seeing this kind of interest. A review by The Texas Tribune, conducted with two industry-tracking companies, found at least 248 planned data centers across the state, with 56 of those in Central Texas. The same review found that Texas's grid operator, ERCOT, received 519 requests to connect large electricity users over the past two years, compared to just 24 requests the year before that.
Ninety percent of that estimated electricity demand was tied to data centers, most of which aimed to start operating by 2030, according to the same Tribune review. That kind of growth has also raised questions about water use. The Houston Advanced Research Center estimated that existing data centers in Texas would consume roughly 25 billion gallons of water in 2025, or about 0.4% of the state's total water use, a figure the Tribune reported could climb to as much as 2.7% of annual water use by 2030.
Echoes of an Earlier Georgetown Project
Georgetown has seen data center development before. In 2024, the Austin Business Journal reported that Blueprint Projects of Austin had been approved for a Georgetown data center.
That same Blueprint Projects buildout included a nearby campus in Taylor, where the company expected to invest up to $1 billion over ten years, according to Data Center Dynamics. Taylor's City Council unanimously approved that campus on July 24, 2024, the outlet reported. Separately, Blueprint's Georgetown data center project was described as having 35MW of capacity and a footprint of 45,000 square feet, and the company received tax breaks for that Georgetown project, per the same report.
What Big Tax Promises Have Looked Like Elsewhere
Developers touting a future as a top local taxpayer is not unique to Georgetown. In Wythe County, Virginia, officials said a Solis Arx data center campus with a projected investment of more than $1 billion could generate more than $10 million in annual county tax revenue by 2028, according to Cardinal News, assuming the project proceeds on schedule.
Specifics for the new Georgetown project, including its developers, exact site, construction timeline, electricity and water needs, and any tax agreements, have not yet been independently verified beyond the developers' own statements about its potential tax impact. As the broader wave of Texas data center construction accelerates toward 2030, Georgetown's latest addition is likely to draw continued scrutiny over how such projects affect local infrastructure and tax bases.
