Skybox in Hutto: the project, the concerns, and the facts
October 1st's City Council discussion about Skybox covered a lot of ground, so I went through the presentation, the history of the project, and some of the concerns we’ve heard about data centers.
TL;DR
- Skybox has been developing in Hutto since 2023. This isn’t a new company or an untested project.
- The existing Skybox campus is fully leased, and its second 300-megawatt phase has also been leased.
- The newly rezoned 140 acres were already zoned Light Industrial and are inside the Hutto Megasite. This is not residential land being converted to industrial use.
- Prologis, Skybox’s development partner, is one of the world’s largest industrial real-estate companies, with about $240 billion in assets under management and a major data-center portfolio.
- This is different from the withdrawn Zydeco proposal on Ed Schmidt, which sought to change land planned for multifamily residential development to Heavy Industrial.
- The existing Skybox Hutto facility uses a closed-loop, air-cooled cooling system. That was confirmed during the meeting using information from the actual city permit.
- Skybox says its existing Hutto buildings have already exceeded the original estimate of 30–60 permanent employees per building and now have more than 100 per building.
- About 1,300 contractors are currently working at the Hutto campus each day during construction. Skybox projects about 500 permanent employees when the existing campus is completed.
- ERCOT power availability is actually delaying additional development. Skybox said it could be late 2028 before it knows how much grid capacity will be available for this next phase.
- Council approved the rezoning with conditions, including closed-loop cooling, applicable city development requirements, and provisions addressing local sales-tax revenue.
Now for those who want the details:
First, Skybox isn’t new to Hutto.
The original Hutto Data Center Campus development agreement dates back to 2023. Construction filings for the first building followed later that year, and the campus has been growing ever since.
Skybox told Council that its existing campus is now fully leased. Its second 300-megawatt phase has also been leased, and additional construction is moving forward.
The company is developing the campus with Prologis, which is one of the largest industrial real-estate companies in the world. Prologis owns or has investments in approximately 1.3 billion square feet of property across 20 countries, with about $240 billion in assets under management. It also has 5.8 gigawatts of data-center power either secured or in advanced stages of development.
Skybox specializes in large-scale data-center campuses. Together, Skybox and Prologis have been developing Hutto’s 600-megawatt PowerCampus, which is planned for as much as 4 million square feet.
So these aren’t companies trying their first data-center project in Hutto.
The new request involves 140 acres inside the Hutto Megasite on CR 3349. The property was already zoned Light Industrial. Council approved changing it to a Planned Unit Development that allows industrial development and preserves the option for additional data centers.
For now, Prologis intends to move forward with the property as industrial development. Buildings would be marketed as build-to-suit rather than constructed without tenants.
If Skybox can secure sufficient power through ERCOT, part of the property could eventually become the fifth and sixth data-center buildings in the Megasite.
That’s very different from the data-center proposal Hutto saw earlier this year on Ed Schmidt Boulevard.
The Zydeco proposal sought to change land designated for multifamily residential development to Heavy Industrial for a data center. City staff recommended against that request because it wasn’t consistent with Hutto’s comprehensive plan, and the developer eventually withdrew it.
This Skybox property is already industrial land, inside the Megasite, surrounded largely by industrial property and major transportation infrastructure. Council specifically discussed its location relative to US 79, the railroad and the future Southeast Loop.
The meeting also provided some useful information about concerns that frequently come up around data centers.
Water is probably the biggest one.
During the meeting, information from the actual permit for Skybox Hutto 02 was read into the record. The facility uses a closed-loop, air-cooled chiller system. Skybox also stated that every building it has developed since 2015 has used closed-loop cooling.
Closed-loop doesn’t mean zero water use. Employees still use water, systems need initial filling and maintenance, and buildings have normal domestic water needs. But it is very different from the picture sometimes presented of millions of gallons of city water continuously being consumed for cooling.
Power is another concern.
Interestingly, power availability is currently slowing Skybox down rather than Skybox simply being handed unlimited electricity.
Skybox told Council that ERCOT’s new review process could mean waiting until late 2028 just to know how much grid capacity will be available for this next phase.
The PUD allows several possibilities for future on-site power, including natural-gas generation, fuel cells and battery storage. Those systems would still be subject to applicable state and federal requirements and environmental permitting.
Employment numbers were also discussed.
Skybox said it originally expected roughly 30 to 60 permanent employees per data-center building. Its current Hutto buildings are exceeding 100 employees per building.
Construction is a much larger workforce. According to Skybox, about 1,300 contractors are currently working in Hutto each day. Once the existing campus is built out, the company projects around 500 permanent employees, before counting this new property.
There is also a significant tax-base component. The original economic-development agreement contemplated billions of dollars in private investment, and the Texas Comptroller records a minimum combined capital-investment commitment of $10 billion over ten years for the existing project.
Skybox told Council that the completed existing campus is expected to become a major contributor to Hutto’s property-tax base. The company has also funded the Hutto Police Department drone program, worked with Hutto ISD on job training and apprenticeships, provided scholarships, and participated in the local Chamber.
Council did not give the project a blank check Thursday night.
The rezoning was approved with conditions including closed-loop cooling, compliance with Hutto’s applicable development requirements, and local sales-tax provisions covering construction and power generation at the site. Future site plans and construction permits will still have to go through the applicable review processes.
I think the location is one of the most useful pieces of context.
Hutto said no to a proposal that would have converted residentially planned land into Heavy Industrial for a data center.
This project is going into the Megasite on land already zoned for industrial development, with two established companies that have already invested heavily in Hutto and have an operating history here.
There are legitimate questions to ask about noise, power generation, water, air quality and infrastructure as the project develops. Those questions should continue to be asked.
But after nearly three years of Skybox development in Hutto, we also have local evidence to work with: actual permits, actual cooling systems, actual construction, actual employees and an existing campus.
That’s a much better place to start the conversation than a Facebook meme about what every data center supposedly does.