The 100-acre data center project is set to start this month in the town of Rockdale.
The $150 million project is expected to create 200 jobs.
Whinstone US Inc.says construction has already started on the first 180,000-square-foot building in the project which will open early next year.
“Building the world’s largest bitcoin Mining facility in Texas is a big step for our fast-growing company and a great success for the blockchain industry in the United States,” Lyle Theriot, COO, and Co-Founder of Whinstone US, said in a statement. “The conditions are excellent, and our customers’ demand is overwhelming.
“We see our new facility as a game-changer in the industry and are excited to expand on U.S. soil.”
The cybercurrency data center is being built on land leased from Alcoa Corp.
The aluminum company owns a 32,000-acre property in Milam County called the Sandow Lakes Ranch.
Alcoa has owned the 31-mile long property since the 1950s and had a plant there that was shut down in 2008.
The company is seeking to sell the land for $250 million, which includes water and mineral rights and a smelter that once produced aluminum. Dallas real estate broker Icon Global Group has been marketing the property for the last couple of years.
The Rockdale Municipal Development District, Milam County Industrial Development Corp, and Milam County Commissioners Court considering an economic development incentive package for the new data center project.
“The 200 new jobs, in addition to an estimated 51 spin-off jobs, are significant for the District,” Dr. John Weed III, president of the Rockdale Municipal Development District, said in a statement. “Moreover, being the home of the world’s largest data center will significantly increase Rockdale’s exposure to the technology industry.”
Whinstone has data facilities in the Netherlands, Sweden and Louisiana.
©2019 The Dallas Morning News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
