How $2 Billion in Data Centers Is Reshaping Temple TX Real Estate

Temple, Texas, is in the middle of something most small cities never experience — nearly $2 billion in data center investment landing within a few miles of downtown. Meta Platforms is building an $800 million hyperscale campus. Rowan Digital Infrastructure is developing a $700 million facility right behind it. And a third developer, Oppidan, is adding a $31 million colocation center across the street from Meta.

If you're an investor evaluating Central Texas rental properties, or someone relocating to the area for work, this changes the math on Temple real estate in ways that aren't obvious from a Zillow search. I've been tracking these developments closely as both a local agent and an active investor in this market. Here's what you need to know.

The Three Projects Driving the Boom

Meta Platforms — $800 Million Hyperscale Campus

Meta's facility sits on 393 acres at the intersection of NW H.K. Dodgen Loop and Industrial Boulevard in north Temple. The campus covers roughly 900,000 square feet and was originally announced in 2022, paused for a full redesign to support AI computing workloads, and resumed construction in October 2023 under JE Dunn Construction.

The AI redesign is a big deal. Meta halted the entire project to upgrade the facility for liquid cooling, higher power density, and reinforced floor loading — the infrastructure required to run next-generation AI hardware. That decision means this facility is built for the next decade of computing, not just today's social media servers.

Construction is projected to continue through 2026, with approximately 1,250 workers on-site during peak activity. Once operational, the campus will support around 100 permanent jobs in critical facilities engineering, IT deployment, security, and network operations. These are high-paying technical roles that command salaries well above the Bell County median.

As part of the development agreement, Meta (operating as Polmer LLC) paid the City of Temple $8 million directly for water transmission mains and sewer upgrades — part of a broader $29.8 million city infrastructure plan. The facility is also designed to be 80% more water-efficient than industry standard, with Meta committing to becoming "water positive" by 2030.

Rowan Digital Infrastructure — $700 Million Campus

If Meta proved that Temple works for hyperscale data centers, Rowan confirmed it's becoming a cluster. Backed by Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners, Rowan is building a 300-megawatt campus on 700 acres along Bob White Road in south Temple. To put that power capacity in perspective, 300 MW is equivalent to the electricity consumption of roughly 60,000 to 75,000 homes.

Groundbreaking is scheduled for late 2025, with Phase 1 operations anticipated by fall 2026. The site was voluntarily annexed into the City of Temple to secure municipal water and wastewater services, and Rowan has partnered directly with Oncor for dedicated high-voltage substation construction.

Rowan isn't stopping there. A second development called "Project Stampede" is planned on approximately 200 acres closer to Highway 190. By building two physically separated sites, Rowan creates what cloud architects call "campus diversity" — redundant availability zones that reduce the risk of a single event disrupting service. Public hearings for Stampede are scheduled for winter 2026 with construction targeting spring 2026.

Phase 1 of Rowan's projects is expected to generate around 600 construction jobs and 40 permanent operational positions.

Oppidan Investment Company — $31 Million Colocation Center

Minneapolis-based Oppidan is developing a 61,554-square-foot data center on 10 acres at 2325 Eberhardt Road, directly across from the Meta campus. Unlike Meta (which builds for its own use) or Rowan (which leases massive power blocks to cloud providers), Oppidan's smaller facility targets enterprise clients who need to be physically adjacent to the major fiber routes that Meta and Rowan are establishing.

Construction ran from mid-July through October 2025 on an accelerated timeline.

What This Means for Temple Real Estate

For Investors: The Fiscal Flywheel

The direct employment numbers from data centers are modest — roughly 140 permanent jobs across all three facilities in Phase 1. If you're looking for a factory bringing 5,000 workers who all need housing next month, this isn't that. The real estate impact from data centers works differently, and honestly, it works better for long-term investors.

Here's the mechanism: data centers generate enormous property tax revenue on a small footprint while demanding almost zero public services. They don't send kids to school. They don't create traffic. They don't call the police. They just pay taxes. When their abatement periods expire (typically 10 years), the full taxable value of $2 billion in assets hits the tax rolls all at once — creating what economists call a "revenue shelf."

This is exactly what happened in Loudoun County, Virginia — the world's largest data center market. Data center tax revenue now contributes approximately 30% of Loudoun County's general fund. That allows the county to maintain top-tier schools and amenities while keeping residential property tax rates lower than neighboring jurisdictions. Research there found that homes closer to data centers actually had higher values — not because of the facilities themselves, but because of the fiscal benefits they generated.

Temple is on the early end of this same curve. The current tax abatement structure looks like this:

Meta (Polmer LLC): 75% abatement on property taxes for Years 1–10, followed by 75% PILOT (Payment in Lieu of Taxes) for Years 11–20. Minimum investment commitment of $800 million with 40 jobs at $90K average wage.

Rowan Digital: 50% abatement on the increase in property value for 10 years from the City of Temple, with Bell County terms likely to mirror.

The key detail: Rowan's project was approved after the expiration of Texas Chapter 313 (the school district tax limitation program) in December 2022. That means Temple ISD receives the full weight of school taxes on Rowan's $700 million assessment from day one. Even with city and county abatements, the school district revenue is substantial — and it only grows as phases are completed.

For buy-and-hold investors, this translates to a school district that will be better funded, infrastructure that gets upgraded on someone else's dime, and a tax base that eventually allows the city to reduce residential rates. These are the fundamentals that drive long-term appreciation in a market — not a one-time construction pop, but a structural improvement to the fiscal foundation.

For Investors: Construction Phase Rental Demand

The more immediate opportunity is the construction workforce. With Meta employing approximately 1,250 workers at peak construction and Rowan adding another 600, there are nearly 2,000 skilled tradespeople working in Temple who need housing. Many of these workers are not local — they follow large-scale industrial projects and need furnished mid-term rentals (30–180 day stays).

This is creating demand for rental properties in the $1,200–$1,800/month range, particularly properties within a 15-minute drive of the north Temple industrial corridor. If you own or are considering purchasing rental property in zip codes 76501, 76502, or 76504, the construction phase alone provides a rental demand floor that extends through 2026 and likely beyond as Rowan's phases come online.

For Relocators: Jobs and Infrastructure

If you're moving to Temple for Baylor Scott & White, Fort Cavazos, or another employer, the data center development affects your quality of life in several indirect but meaningful ways.

Infrastructure improvements you'll benefit from: The $29.8 million in water and sewer upgrades funded partly by Meta serve the entire north industrial area and surrounding neighborhoods — not just the data center. The Bob White Road corridor will see significant road improvements to support Rowan's campus. I-35 expansion through Temple and Belton is ongoing and serves as the logistics backbone for the entire cluster.

School funding: Temple ISD stands to receive a significant revenue boost as data center tax payments ramp up, particularly from Rowan's project which doesn't benefit from the now-expired Chapter 313 school tax limitations. Better-funded schools improve both education quality and home resale values.

Economic diversification: Temple's economy has historically relied on healthcare (Baylor Scott & White) and military (Fort Cavazos). Adding a $2 billion technology sector to the local economy creates resilience. If one sector has a downturn, the others provide stability. For homeowners, economic diversification reduces the risk of a market-wide correction tied to a single employer.

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The Bigger Picture: Temple's Position in the "Silicon Prairie"

Temple isn't developing in a vacuum. The city is positioning itself as a release valve for the congested Texas Triangle — the Dallas-Houston-San Antonio-Austin megaregion. With land and power becoming scarce and expensive in Austin and Dallas, Temple offers what hyperscale developers need: abundant land, available power capacity within the ERCOT grid, and proximity to Austin's talent pool (about one hour south on I-35).

This dynamic also explains why other industrial investments are clustering in Temple alongside the data centers. SeAH Superalloy Technologies is building a $110 million advanced manufacturing facility. Niagara Bottling invested $90 million. The regional "Stargate" AI supercomputer project in Abilene is driving grid upgrades and attracting specialized contractors across the entire Central Texas corridor.

For real estate, cluster effects matter. When an area becomes known for a specific industry, it attracts supporting businesses — specialized contractors, equipment suppliers, engineering firms — and those businesses bring employees who need housing. The data center cluster is still in its early stages, but the trajectory mirrors what Loudoun County, Virginia experienced in the early 2000s before it became the world's data center capital.

Current Temple Market Snapshot

As of late 2025, the Bell County housing market reflects stabilization rather than a speculative boom:

The median home price in Temple sits around $260,000, with a slight year-over-year correction of about 1.9%. Homes are averaging around 115 days on market, up from 87 days in the prior period. Inventory has increased modestly, giving buyers more negotiating room.

This is actually good news for investors entering the market now. The initial "announcement effect" from Meta's 2022 news has already been absorbed. Higher interest rates through 2024–2025 dampened speculative activity. You're not buying into hype — you're buying into a market where $2 billion in committed capital is actively being deployed while prices remain accessible.

The land market tells a different story. Industrial-suitable parcels near substations and fiber routes have seen significant price resilience. The City of Temple's annexation of 950 acres for the North Industrial Park expansion signals that the municipality is planning for continued growth in this sector.

To see the best Temple TX Neighborhoods - Click HERE

What I'd Tell an Investor Looking at Temple Right Now

I work with out-of-state investors buying rental properties in Temple every month, and here's the honest assessment:

The data centers don't change the fundamentals of whether a specific property cash flows today. Your rental income, expenses, taxes, and vacancy rate still have to work on a spreadsheet before you buy. What the data centers change is the trajectory of the market you're buying into.

You're buying into a city where $2 billion in taxable assets are being built, where the school district will be better funded in 5 years than it is today, where infrastructure is being upgraded with private money, and where economic diversification is reducing single-employer risk. Those are the conditions that drive steady 3–5% annual appreciation on top of whatever cash flow you're generating.

The construction phase rental demand is a bonus. The long-term fiscal transformation is the real story.

If you want to see how specific Temple properties perform as investments, use my Deal Analyzer tool or check out my complete guide to investing in Temple.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many data centers are being built in Temple TX?

Three data center projects are currently in development: Meta Platforms' $800 million hyperscale campus on 393 acres, Rowan Digital Infrastructure's $700 million campus on 700 acres (with a second site called "Project Stampede" on 200 additional acres), and Oppidan Investment Company's $31 million colocation center on 10 acres. Combined investment approaches $2 billion.

How many jobs will the Temple data centers create?

During construction, approximately 1,850+ workers will be employed across all projects simultaneously. Permanent operational positions total roughly 140 jobs in Phase 1, consisting of facilities engineers, IT technicians, and security and operations staff. These are high-paying technical roles above the Bell County median wage. The larger economic impact comes through the tax base expansion and infrastructure investment rather than direct employment.

Will data centers raise home prices in Temple?

The impact is indirect and long-term rather than immediate. Evidence from Loudoun County, Virginia — the world's largest data center market — shows that homes near data center clusters actually appreciate due to the fiscal benefits (better-funded schools, lower residential tax rates, improved infrastructure). Temple's median home price has remained stable near $260,000, suggesting the market has absorbed the initial announcement effect and is positioned for steady, fiscally-driven appreciation rather than a speculative spike.

How do Temple data centers affect property taxes?

Data centers generate massive property tax revenue relative to the public services they consume. When current tax abatement periods expire (typically after 10 years), the full taxable value hits the rolls. For Temple, this creates a "revenue shelf" effect where the city and county can potentially reduce residential tax rates while maintaining or improving service levels. Rowan's project is particularly significant because it falls outside the expired Chapter 313 school tax limitation program, meaning Temple ISD receives substantial tax revenue from day one.

Is Temple TX a good place to invest in rental property because of the data centers?

The data centers strengthen Temple's investment case but don't replace fundamental analysis. The construction workforce (1,850+ workers) creates near-term rental demand, particularly for mid-term furnished rentals. Long-term, the tax base expansion, infrastructure improvements, and economic diversification all support steady appreciation. Temple remains affordable with median prices around $260K and rental properties that can generate positive cash flow at current prices — a combination that's increasingly rare in Texas metros.

What is the Meta data center in Temple TX?

Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook) is constructing an $800 million hyperscale data center on 393 acres at NW H.K. Dodgen Loop and Industrial Boulevard in Temple. The facility covers approximately 900,000 square feet and was redesigned mid-construction to support AI computing workloads with liquid cooling and higher power density. Construction is managed by JE Dunn Construction and is projected through 2026. Meta (as Polmer LLC) contributed $8 million toward city water and sewer infrastructure upgrades as part of the development agreement.