Data Center Construction in Seguin, Texas

We build data center shells and power yards the way Seguin's industrial parks build plants: on level pads, beside a highway, with utilities sized for the load before the walls go up. That is a practical fit, because a data center is closer to a heavy industrial facility than to an office. It has a slab that carries equipment, a roof that must stay dry over live electronics, a utility service measured in megawatts and a truck court that sees transformers, generators and chillers arrive on lowboys.

The Seguin Economic Development Corporation describes the city as sitting on Interstate 10, about 35 minutes east of downtown San Antonio, with more than 4,000 manufacturing jobs inside the city limits. A town with that much manufacturing already has high-voltage service, rail and truck routes, welders, electricians and crane operators. Operators who need a second or third site outside the San Antonio core often find that a manufacturing town is easier to build in than a suburban office park where neighbors, traffic and covenants slow a long construction schedule.

Our approach to Seguin is simple: confirm the power, then lay out the building and yards to fit the substation and the route of the incoming lines, then test the soil. The rest of the work follows from those three decisions.

Industrial development around Seguin is not theoretical. A published report describes the Rio Nogales Industrial Park, just south of Interstate 10, as the site of a $75 million, 125,000 square foot manufacturing complex on a 33-acre parcel, expected to create 106 jobs. A separate July 2026 report describes a 164-acre commerce park at the northwest corner of I-10 and Highway 46 planned for more than two million square feet of industrial space in buildings from 30,000 to 1.3 million square feet. The point for a data center owner is not who the tenants are but that the land is entitled, graded for building and positioned for trucks.

Land of that character can host a colocation building, a hyperscale phase or a build-to-suit enterprise facility. We look at it as a developer would: pad size, setbacks, detention, truck circulation, and how much room the electrical yard needs next to the building. Our real estate developers and site owners page explains how we price speculative infrastructure work before a user signs.

We organize a Seguin project around the utility. First we obtain the will-serve information, the likely voltage of the service and the location of the nearest transmission line or substation. Then we draw the electrical yard: where the incoming lines land, how the medium-voltage switchgear is arranged, how the duct banks reach each data hall, and where generators and their fuel storage sit relative to prevailing winds and the property line. Only after that do we set the building footprint.

Reversing the usual design order shortens the schedule because the electrical yard, not the building, is usually the long pole. Switchgear and transformers have lead times measured in many months, and our long-lead equipment procurement method places orders and reserves slots while design is still maturing. The building can then be erected on a schedule that meets the arrival of the gear instead of waiting for it.

Industrial towns have strong concrete and steel trades, and we use them. Tilt-wall and precast panels make a fast, durable envelope for a data hall, and our page on tilt-wall and precast data center shells describes how we coordinate casting, bracing and erection while the slab and underground work continue elsewhere on the pad. We pair the walls with a structural steel roof frame designed for rooftop equipment and added mechanical loads.

Site work is the other half of the build. We manage the pad grading, stormwater detention, electrical duct banks, generator and chiller pads and the truck court. Managing this under a single schedule reduces handoffs and lets us hold tolerances on pad elevations that matter to equipment manufacturers. For a campus on a large parcel, our mass grading and site development service gives the owner one schedule and one point of responsibility.

In Texas the commercial building code at the municipal level is the International Building Code, with local amendments permitted by ordinance after a public hearing, and the state energy office continues to use the International Energy Conservation Code for the energy code. Those are state-level statements, and the city decides how it applies them, so we confirm the amendments with the building department before design is complete. Accessibility rules administered by the state also apply to projects of $50,000 or more, and plans are registered and reviewed before inspection.

Utility rules matter just as much. Under Senate Bill 6, loads of 75 megawatts or more face standards for site control, study fees, financial commitments and curtailment readiness. We include these steps in the permitting schedule alongside zoning, site plan review and the stormwater permit, as described on our permitting and utility interconnection page.

An industrial corridor does not mean a project can ignore its neighbors. Generator testing creates noise, cooling towers can create plumes and drift, and construction traffic uses the same roads as the plants. We plan hauling routes, construction hours, dust control and erosion control before mobilization, and we sequence noisy work, such as pile driving or heavy compaction, to reduce complaints.

We also look at how an expansion on the same site will coexist with a live facility. A second building on the pad should not require shutting down the first, so we leave stub-outs, spare duct bank capacity and a construction entrance separate from the operations gate. Owners comparing nearby sites can look at New Braunfels to the northwest or San Marcos farther north, or read about colocation data center design for tenant-driven programs.

Send us the size of the load, the target date and the parcel or park you are considering. We will return a short scope with geotechnical, utility and schedule questions answered.

Is an industrial park the right place for a data center?

Often yes, provided the zoning allows it and the utility can serve the load. Industrial parks usually have the road access, the lot size and the neighbors that tolerate trucks and generator testing. We confirm the permitted uses, the setbacks and any covenants, then check whether the park's electrical infrastructure can be extended to the load you need.

How long does a data center shell take on a prepared industrial pad?

The shell itself can go up quickly when the pad is ready, because tilt-wall panels can be cast and erected within a few months for a mid-sized building. The longer item is power and cooling equipment, which can take much longer to arrive. We therefore schedule the shell to finish when the gear is ready to set, not sooner.

Does the manufacturing base help with labor?

It helps with welders, electricians, concrete finishers and equipment operators, because those trades work in factories and plants. Mission-critical work adds its own requirements, including testing, cleanliness and commissioning, so we pair local trades with our own supervision and our safety program.

What drives cost on a site this close to San Antonio?

Land is usually less than in the core, but extending power and fiber can offset the savings. Rock and clay conditions vary along the I-10 corridor, so geotechnical results can move the foundation budget. We price each parcel from borings and utility letters instead of using a regional average.

Can we start site work before the utility finalizes the interconnection?

Sometimes. Mass grading, detention and underground work that does not depend on the final service voltage can start earlier, while the building waits. We advise owners which tasks are safe to start and which could be stranded if the utility changes the point of connection.