Good morning. A Dallas data center developer just locked down the biggest construction loan in its history, and it's only the start.
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Market Snapshot
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Power Play
DataBank Lands $2B Construction Loan for AI-Ready Texas Campus
Rendering of DataBank's Red Oak campus | Courtesy of DataBank
A major financing deal is accelerating one of North Texas’ largest data center campuses amid surging AI demand.
The deal: DataBank secured a $2B construction loan to fund three data centers totaling 600K SF and 180 megawatts at its 300-acre Red Oak campus. This marks the company’s largest loan ever and pushes its total financing over the past year to $4.7B.
Project breakdown: The facilities—DFW9, DFW10 and DFW11—are already fully leased and represent the first phase of an eight-building campus. Construction costs are pegged at $837M, with DFW9 delivering in 2027 and the others slated for 2028 completion.
Speed to market: The financing, paired with existing power commitments, is expected to accelerate delivery timelines by roughly 18 months—critical as hyperscalers and AI users race for capacity.
Texas stays dominant: The Lone Star State continues to attract data center development thanks to cheap power, land availability and business-friendly policies. With ~4 GW of existing capacity and 6.5 GW underway, Texas is on track to surpass Virginia as the top U.S. data center market by decade’s end.
DFW leads locally: Dallas-Fort Worth remains the state’s largest data center hub at 2.4 GW, reinforcing its role as a core market for digital infrastructure growth.
➥ THE TAKEAWAY
Texas momentum: Texas keeps stacking reasons why it's becoming the nation's data center capital: cheap power, land, and a permitting environment that doesn't get in the way. When fully built out, Red Oak will be one of the largest campus-scale deployments in the Sun Belt.
Around Texas
➥ The Texas Stock Exchange is poised to attract companies and jobs to Dallas-Fort Worth, boosting demand for housing and Class A office space while challenging traditional financial hubs.
➥ Austin’s office market pairs high vacancy and slow deals with one of the nation’s most active development pipelines.
➥ Houston’s industrial market is accelerating, with rising construction and leasing fueled by diverse demand drivers like population growth, port activity and manufacturing.
➥ Fermi America is searching for a new CEO and opening a Dallas HQ as leadership exits and funding setbacks rattle its massive Texas data center ambitions.
➥ Dallas-Fort Worth’s office market is bleeding occupancy, with 6.8M SF of negative absorption in three years even as rents continue to rise.
➥ Dallas is emerging as a top-tier global office market, attracting capital and tenants as corporate relocations and investor demand redefine traditional gateway cities.
➥ Mansfield has approved a $750M mixed-use film studio project, signaling growing demand for entertainment-driven development in North Texas.
➥ Dallas-Fort Worth’s multifamily market is holding steady with modest rent growth as strong demand works to absorb a wave of new supply.
Follow the Money
| INDUSTRIAL POLK COUNTY A $115M timber plant expansion in East Texas is set to create jobs and increase production, signaling renewed industrial investment in rural markets. |
| MIXED-USE UPPER KIRBY A $270M mixed-use project in Houston aims to command record rents, betting that high-end design and prime location will outperform a soft office market. |
| INDUSTRIAL SUNNYVALE CapRock has launched its first Texas ground-up project in Dallas-Fort Worth, betting on strong demand for shallow-bay industrial space despite a cooling construction pipeline. |
| INDUSTRIAL FORT WORTH Hillwood is ramping up its largest-ever speculative industrial pipeline at AllianceTexas, alongside new multifamily developments expanding across North Texas through aggressive development. |
| HOSPITALITY AUSTIN Austin is weighing tax breaks to support a nearly $1B resort and convention project, aiming to boost tourism and long-term tax revenue. |
| STADIUM ARLINGTON The Dallas Cowboys are pursuing a $1B AT&T Stadium overhaul with public incentives, tying the investment to a long-term lease extension. |
| INDUSTRIAL HOUSTON CenterPoint expanded its Houston industrial footprint with new acquisitions, capitalizing on strong demand driven by port activity and logistics growth. |
| ADAPTIVE REUSE HOUSTON Pagewood’s adaptive reuse project headlines a wave of deals, leasing and development activity reshaping Houston’s East End and broader CRE market. |
📈 CHART OF THE WEEK
Elevated apartment supply across Texas is keeping landlord competition high, making concessions a key leasing tool and limiting rent growth heading into the spring season.
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