October 2026 study
Data center hiring runway
The vote that approves a data center and the first day it delivers capacity are, on the projects we track, about 21.5 months apart at the median. Groundbreaking to first capacity is about 12 months. This page lays out every tracked project with both dates, by state, and the targets that have already moved.
By Czarina Tabayoyong, Founder, Critical Path Hiring. Former Amazon, AWS and Google recruiter.
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Findings
- Approval to first stated target: median about 21.5 months across 9 projects, from 7 months (CloudBurst data center campus) to 34 to 45 months (Project Cardinal).
- Texas runs short and Illinois runs long. The 3 Texas approvals in the set are county tax abatements or council votes that came after design, with a median of about 15.5 months to the first target. The 3 Illinois approvals are zoning and annexation votes at the start of the process, with a median of about 24 months.
- Groundbreaking to first capacity: median about 12 months across 9 projects. Quarter-dated cases run from 10 months (DFW7 campus, Asphalt Drive) to 21 months (Dallas-Talty campus).
- 4 tracked targets have already moved or paused: DC BLOX Atlanta West Hyperscale Campus, Cinco data center campus, DFW7 campus, Asphalt Drive, Microsoft Licking County campuses. The runways above are stated plans, so the real figures run longer.
Approval to target
- Earliest the target allows
- Latest the target allows
| Project | Market | Approval | First stated target | Months |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CloudBurst data center campusInitial 50 MW phase | San Antonio | 2026-04County tax abatement and development agreement approved | Q4 2026 | 7 months |
| Joule AI data center and energy campusCampus starts providing power | Salt Lake City | 2025-08County commission approved | 2026 | 5 to 16 months |
| Cinco data center campusFirst 60 MW phase; moved from Q4 2025 | San Antonio | 2025-03City council and county commissioners approved | 2026 | 10 to 21 months |
| CyrusOne data center west of Castroville | San Antonio | 2025-11County tax abatement approved | June 2027 | 18 months |
| Devlin Technology ParkFirst approval came earlier; the appeal ruling is the last public decision | Northern Virginia | 2025-09Rezoning upheld on appeal | 2027 | 16 to 27 months |
| Project Vector | Chicago | 2025-12City council approved | Q4 2027 | 23 months |
| T5 Chicago IV (Cornerstone business park)Building permit issued September 2026 | Chicago | 2025-05Last village approval | Q2 2027 | 24 months |
| Amazon Marysville Innovation Park campus | Columbus | 2025-03City council approved 30-year tax exemption | 2027 | 22 to 33 months |
| Project Cardinal | Chicago | 2026-03City council final approval | 2029 | 34 to 45 months |
Groundbreaking to target
- Earliest the target allows
- Latest the target allows
| Project | Market | Construction start | First stated target | Months |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joule AI data center and energy campus | Salt Lake City | 2025-11Groundbreaking | 2026 | 2 to 13 months |
| DFW7 campus, Asphalt DriveNo completion report found; a project database now shows 2027 | Dallas-Fort Worth | 2025-04Construction started | Q1 2026 | 10 months |
| Cinco data center campusFirst 60 MW phase | San Antonio | 2025-08Groundbreaking | 2026 | 5 to 16 months |
| Stream San Antonio III campusFirst building, 40 MW | San Antonio | 2024-06Groundbreaking | Q2 2025 | 11 months |
| Cologix Lewis Center data center | Columbus | 2025-11Work started | Q4 2026 | 12 months |
| Vantage Millersport campus | Columbus | 2026-05Construction began | 2027 | 8 to 19 months |
| QTS Eagle Mountain campus (SLC1)Buildings 1 and 2 operational | Salt Lake City | 2025-09Work began | Q4 2026 | 14 months |
| PowerCampus Dallas | Dallas-Fort Worth | 2024-06Work on first building began | Q1 2026 | 20 months |
| Dallas-Talty campusFirst customers move in | Dallas-Fort Worth | 2027-02Site work expected (planned, not started) | Q4 2028 | 21 months |
Slipped targets
| Project | Market | Milestone | Stated before | Stated now |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DC BLOX Atlanta West Hyperscale Campus | Atlanta | First 40 MW phase delivered | 2025 | 2026 |
| Cinco data center campus | San Antonio | First 60 MW phase online | Q4 2025 | 2026 |
| DFW7 campus, Asphalt Drive | Dallas-Fort Worth | First phase completion | Q1 2026 | 2027 in a project database; no completion reported |
| Microsoft Licking County campuses | Columbus | Campus plans | Three campuses | Paused April 2025; site work at one campus since February 2026 |
Hiring impact
Read the two medians together. Approval to first capacity is about 21.5 months and groundbreaking to first capacity about 12, so groundbreaking falls roughly 10 months after the vote on a typical tracked project. Construction hiring starts then. The commissioning window, the last two quarters before the target, opens about 6 months after groundbreaking. An owner who waits for the groundbreaking story to start a commissioning search has about half a year, and the collision page shows how many other sites open their window in the same quarter.
In Texas the public approval often comes late, after design, so a tax abatement vote is a signal that hiring is already under way. In Illinois the council vote comes first and the project has about two years to staff. The same headline, "county approves data center," means different things for a recruiter in Medina County and one in Kane County.
Method and limits
- Projects: tracked projects under construction or approved with both a dated public decision or construction start in the public record and a stated first completion target on hiring windows by market. 9 qualify for the approval runway and 9 for the construction runway; two projects appear in both.
- "Approval" is the last public vote or agreement we found: zoning, annexation, a conditional use permit or a tax abatement. Where a rezoning was appealed, the appeal ruling is used.
- A quarter target counts as its middle month. A year-only target gives a January to December range and a June midpoint, and the medians use midpoints.
- Targets are stated plans. Four have already moved, and the medians will lengthen as more do. First targets cover a first building or phase, not full buildout.
- Small set: medians on 9 and 9 projects, and on 3 and 3 for the state comparison.
Questions
- How long after approval does a data center open?
- Across 9 tracked projects with a dated public approval and a stated completion target, the median is about 21.5 months from the approval to the first target. The 3 Texas projects run shorter at about 15.5 months, the 3 Illinois projects longer at about 24 months. These are stated targets, and several have already moved.
- How long does data center construction take?
- Among 9 tracked projects with a stated construction start and a first completion target, the median is about 12 months from groundbreaking to the first phase. The quarter-dated cases run from 10 months (DFW7 campus, Asphalt Drive) to 21 months (Dallas-Talty campus). First phases are usually one building or 40 to 70 MW, so this is the time to first capacity, not full buildout.
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Czarina Tabayoyong
Founder and principal recruiter, Critical Path Hiring. Czarina recruits commissioning, MEP, power and critical facilities people for data center builds. She previously recruited cloud and data center architecture talent at AWS Professional Services, and PMO and project delivery talent for hyperscale data center campuses in Texas and Virginia.