US operator Skybox Datacenters has secured permission to develop a new facility around Austin, Texas.

As reported by CBS and others, the Round Rock city council last week unanimously approved a planned unit development (PUD) from Skybox to rezone just under 30 acres from LI (Light Industrial) to allow for a data center.

The currently vacant land, located east of N. A.W. Grimes Boulevard and south of E. Old Settlers Boulevard, is set to host one data center building totaling up to 250,000 sq ft (23,225 sqm) and 75MW of grid-connected capacity. The site will use a closed-loop cooling system.

Skybox filed plans for the development last year, passing its first reading in December.

A petition from Protect Round Rock against the proposals secured more than 3,300 signatures.

Sabey and Switch are both present around Round Rock, while Amazon has permission for one on land near CR 172 and SH 45. The council also approved in 2024 a 57-acre development near Chisholm Parkway and I-35 that includes a data center, although that project has not begun.

Skybox is a data center builder and operator, providing wholesale colocation, as well as turnkey, enterprise data centers and operations

The company is developing in the Hutto area of Austin alongside Prologis: the PowerCampus Austin project could total 600MW and 4 million sq ft (371,600 sqm). The pair is also developing in the Pflugerville area of the city.

Skybox has partnered with industrial real estate firm Prologis for multiple campuses in Texas (Austin, Dallas), as well as Virginia and Illinois (Chicago, since sold to HMC Capital). The company also previously sold a data center in Houston to Element Critical. Skybox has other projects in Houston and San Angelo, Texas, and in Santa Clara, California.

Though not as large as Dallas, the wider Austin area is one of Texas’ largest data center hubs. The area totals more than 40 data centers, with operators including Digital Realty, CyrusOne, DataBank, LightEdge, Rowan, Colovore, EdgeConneX, Tract, Prime, and others present.