A data center project has been proposed for 199 acres of land in San Marcos, Texas.
Proposed by Armbrust & Brown PLLC on behalf of Highlander SM One LLC, the companies seek to rezone the land from Conservation Cluster to Light Industrial and annex 53.57 acres of the same land.
The data center project would lie on the western side of Francis Harris Lane, south of the intersection with Grant Harris Road.
The annexation request was approved during a February San Marcos City Council meeting, but the rezoning is not set to be decided until April.
Agenda documents from the February 19 meeting suggest that the land was previously zoned for single-family lots in 2022, but the land owner - Highlander SM One - has changed tack after this plan failed to come to fruition.
"Since then, the owners have collaborated on a new vision for the broader Property: assembling Tracts 1 and 2 together and developing a data center – a use much more consistent with the adjacent power plant ... and with a lower overall traffic footprint for Francis Harris Lane."
The site is adjacent to the Hays County power plant.
Details about the data center are sparse, but according to a report from the San Marcos Daily Herald, the data center will use a closed-loop water system, which will reduce wastewater.
John Mayberry, representing the applicant, said during the February meeting: "Once this system is filled and set, it continues to use the same water. I do want to note the low infrastructure and government resources needed for a data center. There is low traffic volume and no active loading docks. This is not an active warehouse. Limited emergency services are needed because the data centers have their own security, and as you would expect, the centers have fire systems to protect the technology.”
He added that the city will receive tax revenue from the project, noting that a 94-acre development in Bexar County recently had a valuation of more than $300 million.
Mayberry also noted that the project is not the CloudBurst data center, which was also proposed for San Marcos last month. CloudBurst is planning a gas-powered data center with Energy Transfer, aiming for a 2026 completion date.
San Marcos City Council Member Amanda Rodriguez raised some concerns about the impact such a project could have on the grid. “We have a grid that relies 48 percent on natural gas. A grid that state lawmakers continue to worry that it’s going to fail, inevitably,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez, along with Alyssa Garza, voted against the annexation. The other five members of the board cast assenting votes.
