The Daily Dig
KDC Real Estate cleared a major hurdle for Project Comal after Taylor City Council voted unanimously on March 26 to approve annexation and zoning requests for the development. Taylor sits approximately 35 miles northeast of Austin.
The facility will occupy a 220-acre parcel at 1051 County Road 401. The site plan calls for six data center buildings and two substations.
The campus will draw power from Texas electric utility Oncor. KDC estimates a three-and-a-half-year construction phase that will generate up to 3,000 jobs.
The project sits adjacent to the Samsung semiconductor manufacturing plant, placing two major industrial developments in close proximity on the northeast Austin metro fringe.
KDC is primarily known for commercial office, corporate build-to-suit, and mixed-use developments. The firm brought on former CyrusOne executive Robert Child as Executive Vice President of Data Center Development in February as part of a deliberate push into the sector.
Project Snapshot:
Project Name: Project Comal
Developer: KDC Real Estate
Location: 1051 County Road 401, Taylor, Texas
City: Taylor, TX (approx. 35 miles northeast of Austin)
Site Area: 220 acres
Capacity: 360MW
Buildings: Six data center buildings, two substations
Power Utility: Oncor
Estimated Construction Period: Three and a half years
Construction Jobs: Up to 3,000
Approval: Annexation and zoning approved unanimously by Taylor City Council on March 26
Adjacent Development: Samsung semiconductor manufacturing plant (expected online this year)
Sector: Data Center / Commercial Real Estate
TheJobWalk Thoughts
A 220-acre, six-building campus with a 3.5 year build schedule creates a sustained subcontractor pipeline, not a spike. Civil, structural steel, electrical, mechanical, and low-voltage trades will all cycle through in waves. Smart subs need to be positioning with KDC and its GC selections now, before procurement opens.
The Samsung plant next door is not a coincidence. Infrastructure clusters like this create compounding demand for the same trades, labor, and suppliers in a compressed geography. If your crews are already committed to Samsung, this project just made your capacity planning a lot more complicated.
