Council Rezones Land for Light Manufacturing (Skybox Data Center)

San Angelo City Council rezoned a recently annexed area in the Northeast side of town for light manufacturing to accommodate a proposed Skybox Data Center project.  Council heard from a large number of citizens in public comment prior to the Consent Agenda and during the rezoning item itself.  

An article on the U.S. manufacturing boom promised by the White House stated:  

When manufacturers build new plants, they also need housing for workers, warehousing for parts, and access to roads, ports, and rail. That drives up the value of surrounding land and rental housing — especially in overlooked areas just outside major metros. Real estate investors often move early in these cycles, buying up properties near confirmed development zones and holding for appreciation.

Abilene just approved a 1,000 space RV park to accommodate temporary workers building their gargantuan Lancium Project.  It started as a squirrelly Bitcoin mining operation that would run an energy arbitrage, but morphed into Trump's giant AI project and renamed Stargate in conjunction with Sam Altman's OpenAI.

Most of the people who commented at Tuesday's Council meeting know what is coming.  Many opposed it, while a number of people supported the Skybox project.  Citizens know our electrical bills will go up no matter where in Texas these data centers go.  They know construction will involve lots of imported workers, higher truck traffic and put pressure on housing and hotels.  It happened during the shale boom and will return with Skybox.  

Council is yet to ask what happens if this thing busts in fiver years.  Are they prepared to take the keys to the building if owners and lenders walk away?  

Cooling in West Texas is a significant challenge in any summer, but 2024 levels of summer heat make that far more expensive, assuming that much power is actually available.  

Citizens want to know if power will remain affordable and actually be there when needed.  That concern grows when Vice President of Economic Development Michael Looney stated two other data centers are currently looking at Tom Green County.  

Prior to Council's 6-1 vote approving the zoning change, Mayor Thompson complimented public comment.  A number of issues were raised that the Mayor said could be addressed via a 380 economic development agreement which provides restrictions in order to receive those benefits.  

Actually, a number of issues raised require Skybox to share information that likely sits under a current non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with the city and city leaders, including the Mayor.  

Mayor Thompson said during the zoning item regarding the economic value of the proposed data center:

"I've heard lots of different numbers brought up."

Later he said:

"A lot of questions were answered.  There's a lot of questions that still are yet to be answered.  There's a lot of information out there.  A lot of it is correct.  More of it's incorrect.  But a lot of things are opinion."

Time and actions will reveal how open Skybox and the City are in regard to answering citizen questions and concerns.  That is the Mayor's job, NDA or not.