The Bryan city council approves a tax abatement agreement with the new owner of a data center building on the RELLIS campus.
The unanimous vote among four members at a special meeting Friday (June 26) followed no public discussion and after hearing from two opponents.
WTAW News has asked the city for a copy of what was considered a “replacement” agreement. That’s after the ownership change when the original owner experienced what was described as “financial issues”.
Those attending Friday’s meeting were mayor Bobby Gutierrez and councilmen Paul Torres, Ray Arrington, and James Edge.
City councilman James Edge said during an April 8th visit on WTAW’s The Infomaniacs that this is a replacement agreement following financial issues with the original owner. Edge said at the time that construction of the building was nearing completion after two years. Edge described the center “is not what I would call one of the massive (centers). It’s really not large enough for them to generate their own power”, adding “they (the center) can certainly purchase power from BTU, which we’re really excited about there as well.”
As for the amount of electricity the data center will use, WTAW News asked BTU to compare the projected consumption of the data center with other BTU industrial and commercial customers. The response from a BTU spokesman was “Unfortunately, we cannot disclose any usage projections as it would violate our requirement to maintain customer privacy and confidentiality. The RELLIS campus as a whole is a vital asset to our community, and we are prepared to meet the demand for additional power as they grow the size and scope of their mission.”
Background information from the city said the estimated cost of improvements and tangible personal property is at minimum approximately $298,000,000 which will include new real property improvements, tangible personal property, machinery, and equipment.
In an April 2025 WTAW website story, the center the 230,000 square foot building would contain offices and classrooms. The data center would eventually employ 100 hundred and generate an annual payroll of more than $7 million dollars. In exchange, the ten year agreement would save the owner $13 million dollars in city property taxes and the city would receive new revenue of $23 million dollars. That revenue includes more than $1 million that must be spent on quality of life programs that includes parks, senior and youth services, career and technology training, and economic development.