Fort Worth's AllianceTexas Lands 7M Sq Ft in Year as AI Supply Chain Moves In

Fort Worth's AllianceTexas development has signed 6 million to 7 million square feet of industrial deals over the past year, adding roughly 10,000 manufacturing jobs connected to the data center supply chain, Ross Perot Jr. said Wednesday. Perot, chairman of Hillwood and of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce board, spoke at the Fort Worth Chamber's Leaders in Business series.

Hillwood began developing AllianceTexas in 1985. The project spans 27,000 acres across north Fort Worth and southern Denton County. Perot said demand from artificial intelligence, data center and defense projects is driving the growth, and that companies in that boom are bringing a second wave of business to the city. Beyond the data centers themselves, he said, suppliers need local factories, warehouses and logistics operations to build, store and ship the equipment that powers those facilities.

"Our team's been doing industrial work at Alliance for 40 years and they've never seen a market like this," Perot said. "We're running out of million-square-foot buildings because you need new buildings for these suppliers." He added that 80% of the nation's building stock is older than 10 years, which he said leaves older industrial sites unable to compete for next-generation manufacturers. "Everything we have is new, so we're in a very good spot," he said.

In a Q&A with Marianne Auld, managing partner at Kelly Hart, Perot described how federal funding for the development came together in 1987. He said House Speaker Jim Wright, a Fort Worth member, inserted an Alliance airport industrial category and about $30 million into the budget bill an hour before the vote. "That's when I saw the power of politics," Perot said. He called it "the greatest earmark ever," while noting he is not a fan of earmarks generally.

Perot also addressed data center development, saying facilities that generate their own power through on-site natural gas and cut water use with closed loop systems can benefit a community and build a tax base. "Responsible data center development must be embraced because they're information factories," he said. Meta opened a data center at AllianceTexas in 2017 and is now the largest commercial and industrial taxpayer in Fort Worth, he said.

On policy, Perot said he is pushing for a bipartisan immigration bill that gives small businesses, farmers and ranchers a legal way to hire workers. "We need to come up with a true bill that allows the talented labor in the country that we need so they're here legally," he said. He said the U.S. Chamber opposes tariffs except those aimed at China: "If you don't protect your economy from China, your economy will be destroyed." Asked ahead of the Nov. 3 election, Perot advised the audience to "keep electing really good smart men and women to seniority positions."

Perot also raised competition with China, saying, "We in the West have to win the battle over China because you do not want the Chinese to control your life."