Data Center Construction at Alliance Fort Worth, Texas

A 27,000-acre master-planned development gives a data center owner something rare in North Texas: a single developer who controls land, roads and utility corridors across a very large area. We build shells, mission-critical slabs, utility yards and truck courts inside that kind of framework, and we work with the master developer's design standards and infrastructure plans rather than around them. The result is a faster route from parcel to power than a scattered set of small sites usually allows.

AllianceTexas is described by its developer as holding industrial, logistics, corporate office, retail, aviation and multifamily uses, and the developer states that it has generated more than 73,000 jobs and an estimated $142.9 billion in regional economic impact. We treat those figures as the developer's own statements, but the land use mix is plain on the ground: large buildings, wide roads, rail and an airport.

For a hyperscale or wholesale operator, that environment matches the building program. Our starting questions are the same as anywhere: how much power, at what voltage, by when. The master plan helps answer them.

Fort Worth Alliance Airport opened in December 1989, covers 1,198 acres and has two concrete runways, one of 11,000 by 150 feet and one of 11,125 by 150 feet. It is owned by the City of Fort Worth and managed by a subsidiary of the master developer. An express freight carrier operates a southwest regional sorting hub at the field, an e-commerce air operation opened its hub there in October 2019, and a rotorcraft maker runs a customer acceptance center.

For data center owners, an air cargo campus means logistics operators with their own systems, fast access to replacement equipment, and neighbors who care about airspace. We check tower and crane heights against airport requirements, and we plan lifts accordingly. Our Fort Worth page explains the wider city context.

A master developer has standards for building appearance, signage, landscaping, drainage and utility corridors, and it reviews plans before the city does. We request the design guidelines and review process in the first meeting, prepare a submittal that addresses them, and carry the review time in the schedule. Items such as screening walls, tank enclosures and generator noise are most often discussed.

The developer may also have infrastructure ready or planned: roads, water, sewer, drainage channels and easements. We map what exists and what the parcel needs, and we separate what the owner pays from what the developer provides. Our real estate developers and site owners page describes how we work with landowners on staged infrastructure and pad delivery.

A campus building of this scale begins with the slab: thickness, reinforcement, joint layout, curing and flatness for rack and equipment loads. Tilt-wall panels rise from it, and the roof system, structural steel and mechanical openings follow. See hyperscale data center and hyperscale campus construction for how we sequence a repeated building across a campus.

The yards beside the building are as large as the building itself in importance. Generators, fuel storage, switchgear, transformers and cooling plants need foundations, containment, grounding and routes for service vehicles. We build them in the same package so that conduit, grounding and underground utilities are coordinated from the start.

On a campus, the second building should go faster than the first. We keep the first building's drawings, submittals, equipment specifications and commissioning scripts as the template for the next, and we change only what the site requires. Crews, rental equipment and supplier slots can be reserved for the whole program, not only the first phase.

The first building still carries the learning. We schedule time to review what was slow, update the lessons, and fix the sequence for the next. Our phased expansion build-outs scope describes the shared infrastructure that must be sized for the whole campus, such as the main duct bank trunk, the feeder route and the stormwater system.

A large campus often has several contractors working at once, each with their own cranes, trucks and deliveries. We coordinate through shared site logistics plans, check-in procedures and weekly meetings. Traffic control, haul route cleaning and dust management are written into the plan, since the roads belong to the developer and to the city.

Near an active airfield, the plan also includes bird and wildlife management for open excavations and standing water, lighting limits for night work and marking for tall equipment. Wind and lightning rules halt crane work, and the lift director has authority to stop any pick.

On a campus parcel, the cost drivers shift from the building to the shared infrastructure. The feeder route from the utility, the trunk duct bank, the stormwater system and the access roads serve every phase, so they are built once and sized for the whole. We separate them from the first building in the estimate, so the owner can see the true price of the first phase and the lower marginal price of each later one.

Truck circulation is the other large item. Equipment deliveries and long-term service traffic need concrete sections that hold up under heavy axle loads, turning radii for trailers and clean separation from employee parking. Our truck courts and access roads scope shows how we size and detail those pavements. Owners comparing this campus with the other large airport district in the metro can read our DFW Airport page for a different set of constraints.

Tell us the building program, the target load and the date. We will review the developer standards, draw a first site plan and outline the schedule. We will also list the open questions for the developer and the utility so that nothing waits on an email nobody sent, and we will mark the items that decide the date.

Does a master-planned campus make interconnection easier?

It can make the path clearer, because corridors and easements are often planned, but the utility still sets its own study process and schedule. We ask the developer and the utility what is already in place and what the parcel needs, then we show the owner the real gap.

How do developer design guidelines affect the schedule?

The developer reviews plans before the city does, so we carry that review time in the schedule and submit a package that already addresses its standards. Screening, signage, drainage and appearance items are usually where comments arise.

Can you build multiple identical buildings?

Yes. We treat the first building as a template, then reuse drawings, equipment specifications and commissioning scripts. The goal is to change only what the site requires. A repeated building shortens design, procurement and testing for each later phase.

How does the airport change construction planning?

Cranes and tall equipment may need airspace review, night lighting and marking. We check heights early and plan lifts to comply. Open excavations and standing water can attract birds, so we manage them according to the airport guidance.

Which figures about the campus can I rely on?

The job and economic impact figures are statements by the developer, and we treat them as such. For project decisions, we rely on the actual utility letter, the survey and the soil report for your parcel, not on marketing totals.