Do You Want to Live Near a Data Center?

Today is a good day to be in the news business!

Headlines abound (mostly reporting election results) but one that is making quite the stir within my Compass office is about AI data centers. Headlines such as this one from Austin Business Journal were all but sent out across all Compass offices this morning: "More real estate listings tout data centers even as project opposition increases" by Andy Medici.

He wrote a great article explaining the nuances of the listing information and the change of public opinion on data centers so I highly encourage checking out that article if you haven't already!

I find this news particularly interesting because I had the opportunity to show a home in Cedar Park recently that was built in 1999. The home is 3,059 square feet and boasts of 5 bedrooms and is located in a cul-de-sac. It would seem this home would be a family's dream! And yet it has been on the market for 189 days. There are a lot of contributing factors for this, no doubt, but one sticky element of the location of this home is that the backyard literally has the sound proof wall of the 183 toll road as one side of it's "fence". In 1999, there was no 183 toll road! Just under ten years later, the toll road was complete and has a great impact on moving traffic through Leander, Cedar Park, and Austin. But maybe not so great of an effect on the value on a home that happens to sit right beside it?

So how to navigate the headlines this morning? I am not a fortune teller but one way to protect yourself against future development close to your home is by making sure your agent does due diligence if you ever have the opportunity to purchase land or a home next to... more land. Is the land zoned for residential, commercial, industrial, or mix-use purposes? Does the municipality have future use master plans which show an intent to build public transit, utility grids or... a toll road... in that space? Is there a conservation easement which legally restricts or bans future development? Once questions such as these are answered, you can have more information to know if a home fits your personal goals and then you can know you made the best decision because of the information you had.