Landowner describes proposed annexation and potential data center campus off Old Bastrop Road

At the June 3 work session, John David Carson, speaking for his family, described a proposed annexation and development agreement for nearly 800 acres the family owns off Old Bastrop Road.

Carson said the family has operated the property as a cattle ranch for 25 years and has fielded development inquiries for a decade. He told the council that more than a year ago the family began receiving unsolicited offers for data-center development and that since July they have been under contract with a data-center developer (identified in the transcript as Savi/Sabe/Sabey Data Centers and accompanied by a reference that Mark Noonan would be available). Carson described the developer's Round Rock operations as incorporating water-minimizing design strategies (closed-loop liquid cooling paired with air) and said the family identified a portion of the property for a data center campus while proposing to place roughly half of the acreage (~400 acres) into an open-space zoning category consistent with the city's comprehensive plan.

Carson said the draft conceptual land-use plan situates the proposed data center campus adjacent to the existing Hays Energy plant for compatibility and that the family has no immediate plans for the remainder of the property other than continuing ranching operations. He told the council he and a company representative would be available that evening to answer initial questions.

Ending: The remarks were public comment on an agenda item (item 24) that staff indicated would authorize negotiations on an annexation and a development agreement; no vote or other council action on the development agreement was recorded in the meeting transcript.