Data Center Construction in Carrollton, Texas

A transformer, a generator set or a chiller can take longer to arrive than the building that receives it takes to frame, so in Carrollton we plan the delivery before we plan the data hall. We build shells, power yards and mechanical plants for operators in this part of Denton County, and we begin with the long-lead equipment list: switchgear, generators, chillers, and the cable and busway that tie them together. Each item gets a production slot, a shipping route, a laydown location and a date by which its foundation must be ready.

The road and air network around the city makes that routing workable. Three roadways define access: I-35E, which feeds the wider Metroplex network, the President George Bush Turnpike, and, at the far northern limit, the Sam Rayburn Tollway. For air freight, the region's main international airport lies roughly 5 miles southwest and Love Field 8 miles to the south, a help when a late part has to be flown in and trucked the final stretch. We map more than one approach route before an oversized-load permit request is filed.

Cooling is the second planning thread. Air-cooled or chilled water, the mechanical yard decides how much pad, pipe and sound screening a site needs, and we size that yard alongside the delivery plan rather than after it. Carrollton shows how that growth looks in practice: an operator there added a hall of nearly 60,000 square feet and 4.5 megawatts to a campus that a 2015 trade report described as the biggest in the state at 670,000 square feet. Operators in this market expand one block of power at a time, and we schedule the gear to match.

Wholesale and retail colocation providers are the most direct buyers here because they lease power in blocks and are judged on how quickly the next block can be energized. For colocation and wholesale operators we stage generator and chiller orders in tranches that follow leasing, so capital is not tied up in equipment that has no hall to serve yet.

Enterprise tenants and carriers want a different rhythm. A financial or healthcare owner usually needs one hall with a fixed redundancy level and a firm turnover date, and telecom and network carriers need diverse fiber entrances and meet-me space before anything else. We write the long-lead schedule around whichever of those milestones governs the project.

We open a project with a long-lead register, a single list of every item whose lead time exceeds the structure schedule. Our long-lead equipment procurement work attaches to each line a submittal date, a factory test witness date, a shipping window and a receiving plan. The register is reviewed weekly with the owner and the design team, and any item that slips is shown against the foundation and energization dates it affects.

Receiving is planned as carefully as ordering. We decide where each piece will be set, which crane or skid system will place it, what weather protection it needs while it sits, and who signs for it. Trade partners for concrete, steel, electrical and mechanical work are scheduled, coordinated and inspected by us so that a delivery never arrives at a pad that is not cured, graded or fenced.

A site in Carrollton often sits near rail or transit lines. DART's Green Line ends at North Carrollton/Frankford, and Trinity Mills is the connection point with the A-train toward Lewisville and Denton, so haul routes near those stations are checked for crossings, turning radii and clearances. Construction traffic also matters: a transit-oriented project at Trinity Mills opened its first phase in December 2025 and expects work on the transit agency's portion to continue into 2027, which means lane closures and crane activity within a short drive of some candidate parcels.

We review these conditions with the city early and sequence our own heavy deliveries around them. The same review feeds the logistics plan for Lewisville and other Denton County sites, because the A-train corridor and the toll network are shared. Where a route is tight, we propose delivering in smaller assemblies, using off-peak windows or staging gear at a nearby yard.

The costs that surprise owners in this market are rarely the structure. They are expediting fees on a late transformer, off-site storage while a hall waits for energization, crane standby when a delivery misses its day, and rework when a pad was poured to a vendor drawing that later changed. We price those risks openly and carry them as named allowances, so the owner can decide whether to buy certainty with early deposits.

Mechanical yards add their own line items: equipment pads, supply and return piping, enclosures and screening, and the electrical feeders from the yard to the hall. Choosing chilled water over air-cooled units changes the size of that yard and the lead time of the plant, which is why chiller and cooling plant pads are priced in the first estimate rather than at design development.

Expansion beside an energized building carries risks that a new campus does not. The new hall shares fence lines, fiber paths and sometimes yard space with live equipment, so tie-ins are done in planned outages, vibration and dust are controlled, and the access route for heavy gear is kept separate from the operations staff entrance. Our expansion and retrofit planning covers each of these before mobilization.

Buyers comparing Carrollton with Plano or Irving can ask us for the same long-lead register priced for each site. The comparison often turns on haul route length, laydown room and how close the parcel sits to an existing substation, and we would rather put those numbers on paper than argue them in a meeting.

Share the load, the cooling approach and the date your first hall must be live. We will return a long-lead register, a draft haul route and a yard layout, and we will say which orders should be placed first.

How early should long-lead equipment be ordered for a Carrollton data hall?

As early as the power and cooling design is stable enough to write a specification. Switchgear, generators and chillers can run well past the length of the structure schedule, so we place reservation or deposit decisions before the building permit is issued when the owner agrees. We show the cost of waiting alongside the cost of ordering early.

Can you receive and store equipment before the hall is ready?

Yes, with conditions. Gear needs a level, drained laydown area, weather protection, security and a written handling procedure from the manufacturer. We price storage on site where space allows, and off site where it does not, and we keep a log of each item's condition on arrival.

How do airports and highways in the area affect delivery planning?

Proximity to Dallas/Fort Worth International and Love Field helps with urgent air shipments, and the interstate and tollway system gives several approaches for trucks. The final leg still depends on bridge limits, turning radii and the permit route for oversized loads, so we verify each leg before a carrier is booked.

Do you size the mechanical yard at the start of a project?

We do. The cooling method sets how much pad area, piping and screening the site needs, and that area competes with parking, generators and future expansion for the same acreage. We carry a yard layout from the first concept sketch so that a later change in cooling type does not force a site redesign.

Who handles the trades on a Carrollton project?

We plan, schedule, coordinate and inspect the work of concrete, steel, electrical and mechanical trade partners, and we keep one integrated schedule that shows every delivery. Owners get one accountable point of contact for sequence and quality, and the trade partners hold their own licenses and insurance.