Facebook is the latest enterprise to enter the Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) data center market. Powered by 100% renewable energy, the social media giant's planned 750,000 SF data center (in three separate 250,000 SF buildings) will be massive in terms of its size and impact. At datacenterHawk, we see three key takeaways from the official Facebook announcement:

1. Alliance still attracts enterprise data center users – Alliance Texas is an 18,000 acre master planned mixed use community developed by Hillwood Properties. While most data center activity has occurred in the Dallas side of the market (specifically downtown and suburbs Richardson, Plano and Far North Dallas), the Alliance area north of Fort Worth has continually attracted enterprise data centers. The infrastructure in Alliance is robust, both from a power and fiber perspective, and additional sites are available to serve small or large enterprise data center users.
2. Aggressive tax incentives lure enterprise data centers – In 2013, the Texas legislature approved tax abatement legislation specifically to attract data centers to the state. The tax abatement package for Facebook, worth approximately $147M, was likely a critical decision point for the deal. While Facebook could build data centers anywhere in the United States, this latest news proves how the Texas strategy of multi-year tax abatement works to bring data center users to the market.
3. Enterprise data centers typically cluster together – Data center users find value in locating within close proximity of one another. Other data centers located in Alliance include AIG, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, and Citigroup. Enterprise data centers, when clustered together, bring a level of validation to the area. Users in these clusters can save time to market because power and fiber infrastructure is already within close proximity.

Facebook's presence in Alliance confirms DFW's status as a top data center market. Looking beyond the Facebook deal, datacenterHawk sees Alliance Texas as a first-look area for enterprise data center investment in the region.