Blueprint Projects Receives Approval for Data Center in Taylor, Texas

Taylor City Council has unanimously approved a data center project  proposed by new data center company Blueprint Project in northeast of Austin in Taylor, Texas on July 24. The data center will be located on a 52-acre parcel at 1601 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in Taylor and, after three construction phases, will span 135,000 sq ft (12,542 sqm).

According to Blueprint founder and CEO Yaerid Jacob, the company already has letters of intent with tenants for full capacity of the data center, and has a power agreement with Oncor for 30MW of power. Ultimately, the data center hopes to reach 60MW of capacity.

Despite receiving approval, the project is not without local objections. Nearby residents have complained that there has been a "complete lack of transparency and meaningful communication" following a community meeting with Blueprint, and the July 24 meeting saw a "peaceful demonstration" where neighbors wore red X's to argue against the vote.

City officials have attempted to resolve some of these concerns, having hired an external company to conduct an environmental impact assessment, which found that Blueprint will front the costs for a necessary on-site substation; would use a closed-loop water system to reduce water usage; and that noise would be mitigated by barrier walls and landscaping buffers.