A Dallas-based real estate development company has confirmed it is moving forward with plans to take over construction of a $210 million data center project in Pflugerville.
Mike Neary, president of Dimension Capital Partners, said his company is planning a formal announcement following the closing of the site's land purchase, likely in September. The project will be the first data center development of Dimension Capital subsidiary Dimension Mission Critical Facilities.
"We are going to close on the land, and we are moving forward with the design of the project, which is extremely expensive," Neary said. "We are committed to this."
Pflugerville City Council and the Pflugerville Community Development Corp. have offered more than $11 million in incentives to develop the data center project. The incentive package was originally granted June 12 to Arista Data Centers LLC.
Arista, however, was never the intended developer of the project. Angelos Angelou, an Austin-based development broker, created Arista for the purpose of securing the incentive package and then passing it on to an actual developer—for a profit.
Although Angelou held the rights to the incentive package, he did not own the tract of land cited for development of the project. The data center site—two tracts totaling approximately 40 acres west of the Stone Hill Town Center—is owned by local developer Terrell Timmerman.
Timmerman secured a separate incentive deal with the city that guarantees him $2 million in tax rebates if he is able to bring $25 million worth of development onto his property, which totals 350 acres.
In order to begin the data center project, a developer would need to finalize a deal that pays Angelou a fee for the city incentives and Timmerman for his land.
Angelou and PCDC Executive Director Floyd Akers cited Dimension Capital as the likely developer shortly after the project's announcement. Neary's Aug. 9 statement, though, was the first confirmation of the deal from Dimension Capital.
"Our strategy is to announce things when they are real and coming to fruition as opposed to just making a lot of noise out there, which some people in the real estate business like to do," Neary said.
Terrell Timmerman's son, Barth, said his family has yet to receive word on whether a deal is imminent.
"I have no idea—we are just a landowner holding the land," Timmerman said. "We haven't set a closing date."
Timmerman said Arista secured a contract on the property that allows it until approximately the end of the year to conduct a feasibility study.
"(Neary) is the potential buyer that is putting the deal together," Timmerman said. "If it works for him great—if not, we will still own land in Pflugerville."