Wichita Falls council OKs zoning for possible data center project

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Wichita Falls council OKs zoning for possible data center project

Wichita Falls city councilors on Tuesday voted to rezone land in north Wichita Falls from residential to light industrial to accommodate construction of a data center warehouse and battery storage units.

The land in question is about 227 vacant acres near the intersections of Kiel Lane, City View Drive and Northwest Freeway.

The developer of the planned project, Mark Calvano of San Francisco, told councilors he envisioned a facility that would be a “hyperscale data center” to be used by a single tenant.

“And it’s usually one of the Big 5 —

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,” he said.

He said it would consist of a single-story structure that could be up to 45 feet tall along with battery storage units that cost about $1 million each. He said the property could hold about $2.3 billion in development.

Calvano admitted data centers use a lot of electricity but said this one would not use more than Oncor could provide. Oncor has a substation nearby.

He did not say how long construction would take but said the project would be a “phased buildout.”

Calvano said it would be a “boon” to the city.

Ron Kitchens, CEO of the Wichita Falls Chamber of Commerce, predicted the center would add about $1 billion to the city’s tax base, which is now totals about $7.5 billion.

Kitchen estimated the construction phase could involve about 2,000 workers during the construction phase

Neither Kitchens nor Calvano provided a number for how many permanent workers the facility would employ.

But Kitchens said, “People will have careers, jobs that elevate salaries.”

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