Texas: Google Warehouses Go Big, Like Their Egos

Oh Google, Always the Texas Ten-Gallon Tech Titan

Brace yourselves, Texans! Google, our favorite Silicon Valley overlord, has planted another massive footprint in the Lone Star State. In a move that screams, "Everything's bigger in Texas," the tech giant has inked a deal for a colossal 1.1 million-square-foot warehouse in Fort Worth. Yes, you read that right — 1.1 million square feet. It's like they're building a data center the size of Texas itself.

The Deets

The lease, which kicked off October 1, covers a whopping 520 acres at Majestic Silver Creek Business Park. The news was originally broken by CoStar, because why not? California-based Majestic Realty, which also has a penchant for Texan real estate, built this beast of a facility last year.

Google's Second DFW Lease — A Billion-Dollar Investment Flex

This isn't just any lease; it's Google's second massive deal in North Texas. Just a few weeks ago, they snagged another monster warehouse in Northlake 35 Logistics Park. Dubbed "Project Beast," this $20.2 million venture is filed with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. The first phase? Slated for completion in 2026, because who doesn't love a six-year plan?

Although Google hasn't officially spilled the beans on their plans for this second lease, it's likely part of their $1 billion investment pledge to beef up cloud and data center infrastructure. Back in August, The Dallas Morning News reported on Google's data center expansions in Midlothian and Red Oak. Who needs real estate deals when you can just drop a cool billion on tech infrastructure?

Google's Leases Among Top 5 Largest in Texas

Cody Gibbs, CoStar's director of market analytics for Dallas-Fort Worth, confirmed that both of Google's recent leases are among the top five largest in Texas for 2024. Only two Houston transactions are bigger, because apparently, size matters in real estate, too.

“North Texas in general has been incredibly strong for these million-square-foot-plus deals,” Gibbs said, because why settle for less when you can go big or go home?

Data Center Boom in DFW

The Dallas-Fort Worth area has seen record levels of data center construction this year. A CBRE North American Data Center Trends Report from the first half of 2024 shows it had the second-largest data center inventory in the country, only behind northern Virginia. Dallas-Fort Worth also ranked sixth in net leasing activity. Because who needs to be number one when you can be number two with style?

So there you have it, folks. Google's taking over Texas one massive warehouse at a time. Can't wait to see what they lease next — maybe the whole state?