Texas land deeded for a park in 1999 sold for $10M data center site

In 1999, a farmer in Taylor, Texas transferred 87 acres to the Texas Parks and Recreation Foundation for a nominal $10, with the deed stipulating the land ‘be held in trust for future use as parkland.’ The property then passed through a chain of hands: to the Williamson County Park Foundation in 2003, to the City of Taylor a month later, to the Taylor Economic Development Corporation for $15,000 in 2008, and finally — in 2025 — to data center developer Blueprint for $10 million. Residents who unearthed the original deed argue the parkland condition was simply ignored, and a neighboring family has fought the 135,000-square-foot project in court, losing so far but now appealing to the Third Court of Appeals in Austin.

The city council claims it is largely powerless to block the development because the parcel carries Employment Center zoning, which lets the city regulate a building’s form but not its function — though Blueprint has not yet secured planning and building permits. Officials point to an expected $30 million in tax revenue over the next decade, $20 million of it earmarked for schools, while promising mitigations like a barrier wall, closed-loop water cooling, and a dedicated substation to address residents’ concerns about noise, air quality, water, and power.

The dispute is a microcosm of the growing friction around data center buildouts in residential areas, sharpened here by the question of whether a Texas deed restriction survives a series of transfers between public trusts, nonprofits, and city entities. The succession of short-hold ownership changes may itself have been what weakened the parkland condition — a pattern worth watching as municipalities court data center money on land with strings attached.