Blue Cross Eyes Ft. Worth for $175M Data Center

Blue Cross/Blue Shield wants to build a $175 million, 220,000 square foot data center in Fort Worth, and is waiting on a tax abatement from the Forth Worth City Council to clinch the deal, according to the Fort Worth Business Press. The 50-acre site near the Alliance Gateway beat out several other alternatives in Texas - including sites in Richardson, Plano, Carrollton and Dallas - as well as properties in Denver and Phoenix.

"If the tax abatements go through, we have a verbal commitment that Blue Cross Blue Shield will build the facility in Fort Worth," said David Berzina, Fort Worth Chamber executive vice president of economic development. The company has applied for a 50 percent tax abatement, which would reduce Blue Cross/Blue Shields tax payments to about $9.5 million over 10 years.

The facility is projected to require 13 megawatts of electric power, which would provide the city with a franchise fee of between $190,000 and $300,000 annually, according to local economic development officials. Blue Cross/Blue Shield would employ about 130 people at salaries of at least $80,000 a year.

The announcement is the latest in a series of data center deals in the greater Dallas market. On Tuesday Telx opened its new facility at 8435 Stemmons Freeway in Dallas, where it has leased 25,000 square feet of space. Earlier this week Unified Infrastructure Services continued its expansion in the Dallas market, which includes the purchase of the carrier hotel at 2020 Live Oak. Dataside, Databank, Securus, Skyrise Properties and Behringer Harvard have all acquired data center space in Dallas since last summer.