What you need to know
The city of Round Rock's Planning & Zoning Commission gave preliminary approval for a proposed Skybox data center near E. Old Settlers Boulevard during a Nov. 5 meeting.
Skybox is in the process of building data centers in nearby Hutto, Pflugerville and Taylor.
The details
The proposal for the data center, which would be located on 29.69 acres near the junction of E. Old Settlers Boulevard and Kiphen Road, shows that the property itself and others it is adjacent to area zoned for industrial use.
Skybox is asking the city to rezone the property to a planned unit development to allow for a data center, ultimately dividing it into three sections with different uses to establish what is permitted on different parts of the site, such as a data center, substation and open space.
The parcel that would be designated as open space abuts an existing neighborhood and would require a 25-foot-wide landscape buffer with a wall, city documents show.
The data center would use a closed-loop cooling system to reduce water use. In a closed-loop system, the same water is recirculated throughout a cooling system to transfer heat away from servers in a data center. This type of cooling system is consistent with other data centers in the city, per the proposal.
What's next?
While the Planning & Zoning Commission gave its approval of the project, it will have to go to City Council at a future meeting for final approval.
