McGregor AI Data Center Campus: Galaxy Digital Specs
Status: Announced / Site Acquisition & Pre-Construction Phase | Location: 500-Acre Site, McGregor Industrial Park, McGregor, McLennan County, Texas 76657, United States
Project Overview
The McGregor AI Data Center Campus, internally designated as Project Merlin, is a 500-acre master-planned artificial intelligence and high-performance computing infrastructure development by Galaxy Digital in the McGregor Industrial Park near Waco, Texas. The project is being designed to address the growing demand for large-scale AI computing infrastructure, with a focus on supporting ultra-dense workloads associated with AI model training, inference, machine learning, and other accelerated computing applications. The campus incorporates dedicated electrical infrastructure, including a privately funded on-site substation, providing greater control over power delivery and supporting the substantial energy requirements of high-density computing systems. Advanced cooling infrastructure is also a central component of the development, with closed-loop water-recirculating systems designed to manage thermal loads while minimizing water consumption and improving resource efficiency. Given the high power and cooling demands associated with AI infrastructure, these systems are intended to support reliable operations while enabling the campus to scale its computing capacity over time. The project also includes acoustic attenuation structures designed to reduce operational noise and help maintain appropriate standards for surrounding industrial and community environments. Positioned within the ERCOT power market, the McGregor campus is strategically located within Texas’s expanding data center and energy ecosystem, providing access to a large and increasingly interconnected power network. With its substantial land footprint, dedicated power infrastructure, water-efficient cooling, and AI-focused design, Project Merlin represents the evolution of hyperscale facilities toward specialized environments capable of supporting next-generation artificial intelligence and high-performance computing workloads.
Quick Facts
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Project Name | McGregor AI Data Center Campus: Galaxy Digital Specs |
| Location | 500-Acre Site, McGregor Industrial Park, McGregor, McLennan County, Texas 76657, United States |
| Status | Announced / Site Acquisition & Pre-Construction Phase |
| Commissioning | 2028 Power On-Take Target (Phased Expansion through 2030) |
| Total IT Load | ~74.0 MW Initial Phase (Expanding to 500.0 MW Total Critical IT Capacity) |
| Total Capacity | 500-acre master-planned campus supporting 6 to 8 purpose-built high-density data center buildings |
| Tier Level | Tier III / Tier IV Equivalent Fault-Tolerant AI & HPC Architecture |
| Project Type | Master-Planned Hyperscale AI Cloud, High-Performance Computing (HPC) & Dense GPU Megacampus |
City Profile
| Header | Details |
|---|
| City Name | McGregor |
| Population | 6,405 (2025 estimate) |
| Urban Agglomeration | ~300,000+ — Waco metropolitan area |
| City GDP | Not separately reported |
| Per Capita Income | US$31,948 (2020–2024) |
| City Tier | Tier 3 – Emerging AI & Data Center Infrastructure City |
| Key Strengths | Proximity to Waco; central Texas location; highway connectivity; available land; industrial infrastructure; access to regional power networks; relatively low population density; and growing AI/data center investment. |
Companies Involved
| Header | Details |
|---|
| Developer / Operator | Galaxy Digital |
| Strategic Infrastructure Partner | City of McGregor, McGregor Economic Development Corporation, Heart of Texas Electric Cooperative, ERCOT |
| Construction Contractor | Specialized Mission-Critical Engineering & Hyperscale General Contractors |
| MEP Engineering | Galaxy Digital Infrastructure Engineering & Mission-Critical Thermal Management Teams |
| Network Connectivity | Carrier-neutral facility featuring path-diverse subterranean dark fiber entrance vaults, dedicated Meet-Me-Rooms (MMRs), and high-capacity fiber routes connecting directly to Texas digital corridors (Dallas, Austin, Houston). |
| Power Infrastructure | Privately funded multi-hundred-megawatt on-site utility substation connected via Heart of Texas Electric Cooperative and ERCOT grid infrastructure, supported by static 2N / N+1 uninterruptible power supply (UPS) modules and backup diesel generators. |
Technical Specifications
| Header | Details |
|---|
| Power Capacity | ~74 MVA Initial Interconnect (Scalable to 500+ MVA Total Substation Capacity) |
| UPS Redundancy | Concurrently Maintainable 2N / N+1 Static UPS Systems |
| Cooling System | Closed-loop zero-evaporation cooling system designed to recirculate water internally, capping daily water usage while supporting liquid-to-chip direct cooling and high-density rack deployment. |
| Connectivity | Sub-millisecond optical dark fiber routes linking McGregor to regional Texas cloud availability zones and carrier exchange hubs. |
| PUE Target | < 1.15 Annualized Operational Design PUE |
| Energy Mix | High-efficiency ERCOT regional grid power supplemented by Texas wind, solar, and clean energy procurement. |
Milestones
| Header | Details |
|---|
| Announcement | July 2026 |
| Construction Start | 2026 / 2027 |
| Phase 1 Go-Live | 2028 |
| Full Buildout | Multi-Phase Expansion Through 2030 |
Investment Details
| Header | Details |
|---|
| Total Investment | ~$400,000,000 Initial Phase (Estimated $1,500,000,000+ USD Full Masterplan Capex) |
| Funding | Corporate Capital Expenditure / Private Financing (Galaxy Digital) |