Texas Data Center Watch- Status
- Registered (TDLR); city zoning amendment rejected Aug 25 (minutes); reconsideration on Sep 15 agenda, outcome not posted
- Developer / parties
- EG AI Corp
- Location
- Rice, Navarro County
- Size
- New 8,599 sq ft data center building (TDLR). The city's proposed "Micro-Data Center" use is defined as a maximum of 5,000 sq ft of computer floor space, under $200M investment or under 40 server racks, and 5 MW or less (Rice minutes and agenda packet, official). TDLR gives a building size; the city figure caps computer floor space; no opened source reconciles the two
- Investment
- Est. $5M (TDLR). EG AI's tax abatement application in the city's Aug 13 2026 packet gives an estimated tax value schedule totaling $212M, including $205M of furniture, fixtures and equipment, and about 25 initial full-time jobs; the application is on a City of Corsicana form dated Mar 18 2026 (company application)
- Concerns / impacts
- Residents raised concerns about community impact, resource use and the power grid at several town halls (NavCo Chronicle)
- Last verified
- 2026-10-06
Milestones
- Aug 13 2026 the zoning amendment, EG AI's SUP application for 5.284 acres at 800 NW McKinney St and a tax abatement were tabled (as stated in the Aug 25 minutes)
- Aug 25 2026 work session discussed the amendment and SUP
- in the special meeting the council untabled the amendment and passed a motion to reject it, 4 ayes, 0 nays, 1 abstention (Mike Butler), and took no action on the SUP or the tax abatement items (minutes, official; the city posts these minutes under the file name 09.15.2026_Regular_Meeting). NavCo Chronicle reported the denial as unanimous and said it "seemingly stops" the project (news, Sep 7 2026)
- Sep 15 2026 special meeting agenda lists Ordinance No. 576-2026-09 (the micro-data center zoning amendment) and Ordinance No. 577-2026-09 (EG AI's SUP) (agenda, official)
- no Sep 15 minutes were posted as of Oct 6, so the outcome is not known
- Oct 5 2026 TDLR registration for a new data center building at 800 NW McKinney St, start Nov 6 2026, completion Apr 30 2028 (TDLR)
- Oct 8 2026 council agenda lists an executive session on entering into a tax abatement agreement with EG-AI Corp for the site (agenda, official). No opened source explains how the TDLR filing relates to the council's actions
Related records
Agenda: executive session on entering a tax abatement agreement with EG-AI Corp for 800 NW McKinney St.
Source: ricetx.gov ↗TDLR TABS: 'EG AI Rice Campus Data Center', new 8,599 sq ft building, est. $5M, 800 NW McKinney St, Rice; owner EG AI Corp.
Source: tdlr.texas.gov ↗Special meeting agenda lists Ordinances 576-2026-09 (micro-data center zoning) and 577-2026-09 (EG AI SUP); minutes not yet posted.
Source: ricetx.gov ↗NavCo Chronicle: Rice City Council unanimously denied (Aug 25) a zoning amendment to allow EGAI's proposed micro data center.
Source: thenavcochronicle.com ↗Minutes: Rice council votes 4-0, one abstention, to reject micro-data center zoning amendment; no action on EG AI SUP or abatement.
Source: ricetx.gov ↗Sources
- Official record tdlr.texas.gov
- News report thenavcochronicle.com
- Official record ricetx.gov
- Official record ricetx.gov
- Official record ricetx.gov
- Official record ricetx.gov
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