The Daily Dig:
The Denton City Council has approved a specific use permit for QumulusAI's modular data center on city owned land near Denton Enterprise Airport. The approval came through in January 2026, wrapping up an entitlement process that kicked off when the city authorized a land lease back in August 2024.
The project sits on about four acres near Western Boulevard and Jim Christal Road, right next to the RD Wells substation. They're planning a modular facility for AI and crypto computing, using a closed loop fluid cooling system that doesn't need water. The site's pretty well positioned, mostly surrounded by heavy industrial zoning and set back from the road.
Project Snapshot:
Owner / Developer: QumulusAI
Land Owner: City of Denton
Approving Authority: Denton City Council
Sector: Modular data center (AI and crypto computing)
Facility Type: Modular data center
Site Area: Approximately 4 acres
Planned Buildout: Up to 8 modular units
Estimated Capacity: Approximately 20 MW
Cooling: Closed-loop fluid cooling; no water use
Site Control: Land lease approved August 2024
Zoning / Entitlement: Specific use permit approved January 2026
Lease Terms: Approximately $20,000 per year over 10 years
Project Value: Not disclosed
Location: Denton, Texas (near RD Wells substation and Denton Enterprise Airport)
Status: Entitled; construction start not stated in sources
TheJobWalk Thoughts:
This is a good example of how municipal data center deals actually play out. They locked down site control well before getting use approval, so the whole entitlement timeline stretched out over a year before council signed off. The airport location and being next to the substation definitely smoothed things over for a power heavy, specialized computing project. For contractors, yeah, it's still pre-construction, but this is when you want to be paying attention. Civil, electrical, and modular partners who know how to work with public owners usually get brought in pretty quickly once permits are done, and if you wait too long, you've already missed the early opportunities.
