Originally published by Houston Business Journal on August 10, 2026. Reproduced here for reference.
Data centers are a hot topic in Texas and elsewhere, not least due to the controversy they cause when they are proposed near residential communities.
With the fast growth of artificial intelligence technology, data centers are probably here to stay — despite increasing scrutiny from the Texas government — and a fast-growing Houston residential land developer is trying to get ahead of the curve.
W Land Development, a division of build-to-rent developer Wan Bridge, has added digital infrastructure development to its portfolio, starting with a 1,000-acre site it has under contract in West Texas.
“We believe in the near future people's lifestyle will change dramatically,” the company’s chairman, Ting Qiao, said. “They will still have their house, but the majority of jobs will be done by AI.”
Qiao said he and his team started looking into it about a year ago. Financially, he said, there is really no difference between developing land for residential use or data centers.
“You need to get entitlement; you need to have the detention pond; you need to have the storm drainage system and water plant. That's pretty much the same,” he said. “And then you sell the dirt or you lease the dirt to the user.”
The main difference is that for data centers — at least as W Land is approaching it — there needs to be electricity-generating infrastructure that is not connected to the state’s energy grid, including plants and battery storage facilities.
The plan is to focus on West Texas, where there is ample, natural gas-rich land available — ideal for data centers, Qiao said. Other criteria for a suitable site include fiber connections, and while the company wants to stay away from residential communities, it also can’t be too far away from a city because data centers can employ hundreds of people. And local governments must be on board.
“We cannot do our business if the local government will not support this AI data center because it's billion dollars investment,” Qiao said. “We must work with the local jurisdictions shoulder by shoulder to make sure it can be (a) benefit to them and also we can be successful there.”
Qiao said he welcomes Gov. Greg Abbott’s directive issued last week pausing approvals of data centers that want to connect to the grid pending project audits.
“The AI data center should not take the resources from the residents, from the people,” Qiao said. “The goal for us to build AI data center is really (to) support humans, support society, support the local people.”
Texas is currently the second-largest market for data centers in the country and could soon overtake Virginia, according to the Texas Tribune. The outlet has identified 335 data centers operating in Texas and at least 248 more planned.
North and West Texas are the primary areas for data center developers, while the Houston area — with some exceptions — is not on the radar for many, due to the cost of land, climate risks and other factors.Link to the article: https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2026/08/10/w-land-development-data-centers.html