A Taylor, Texas, farmer donated 87 acres of land to the city council in 1999 with the condition that it build a children’s park. He decided to do so after seeing that the children in his neighborhood didn’t have a safe place to run around during playtime. Mr Brand, a farmer, was in his 70s when he donated the land to the council. But fast forward to 2026, and the City Council sold the land for $10 million, paving the way for data center developers to build their projects. The site that was intended to be a park will become a hub for an AI data center.
The path is clearing for construction of a 135,000-square-foot data center that will begin just 500 feet from the home of a local woman who has been fighting against the project for a year. Local press 404 media reported that the original sales deed for 87.97 acres on July 7, 1999 was created for the construction of the park. Official records state it is “held in trust for future use as a park.” The trust transferred the land to the Williamson County Parks Foundation in 2003. That same year, the foundation transferred the land to the City of Taylor.
From a $10 gift to a park to a $10 million data center sale
The original bill of sale is still on record, but it has been used and sold for another purpose. The parcel of land was sold to data center developer Blueprint in 2025 to the Taylor Economic Development Corporation for $10 million. The sale grew from a $10 handshake gift to a significant $10 million deal over 26 years. The City of Taylor had sold the parcel of land to TEDC in 2008 for $15,000. This is why TEDC decided to pave the way for building a data center at this location. Local residents will now have to deal with AI data centers instead of parks.
(Tag Translation)AI
