TUSCALOOSA COUNTY, Ala. — A Dallas-based data-center developer plans to invest $3.2 billion in an artificial intelligence computing campus near Brookwood, a project whose first building alone would cover about 1.26 million square feet, consume 210 megawatts of critical IT capacity and bring an industrial-scale development to a rural area of eastern Tuscaloosa County.
The Tuscaloosa County Economic Development Authority this week unanimously approved a 20-year incentive package for Applied Digital Corp.’s proposed Delta Forge 2 campus, clearing a key local hurdle for what would be one of Alabama’s largest announced technology investments.
Applied Digital said the campus would be built on roughly 160 acres of a nearly 1,300-acre site. The company expects construction employment to peak at more than 1,000 workers and expects the completed facility to support more than 100 full-time jobs onsite. Operations are anticipated to begin in 2028.
The project’s initial building would amount to more than 21.7 football fields of enclosed floor space, based on the 57,600-square-foot playing surface of a standard American football field. Its 210 megawatts of contracted critical IT load equals 210 million watts of power capacity dedicated to the servers and computing equipment that will operate inside the facility.
Applied Digital has signed a lease for all 210 megawatts with what it describes in federal filings as a high-investment-grade hyperscaler. The lease runs about 15 years, includes three five-year renewal options and is expected to generate about $5.2 billion in contracted revenue during its base term. The company has not publicly identified the customer.
Project materials identify Kayvens LLC as the long-term tenant. Reports that the company lists a Menlo Park, California, address at 1 Meta Way have prompted speculation that Meta, the parent company of Facebook, could be involved. Neither Applied Digital nor Meta has publicly confirmed Meta as the customer, tenant or operator of the Brookwood facility.
The local incentives include an estimated $314.5 million in noneducational property, sales and use tax abatements over 20 years, according to reports on the authority’s vote. School taxes are not included in the abatement package.
Applied Digital also has committed to make $270 million in community-benefit payments over 20 years — or $13.5 million annually — under an agreement with the county economic development authority. The payments are to be distributed among Brookwood, Tuscaloosa, Northport, Tuscaloosa County, the Tuscaloosa County Road Improvement Commission and DCH Health System.
The developer and local officials project another $131.5 million in education-related taxes over the same 20-year period, including an estimated $101.6 million in education property taxes and $29.9 million in education sales and use taxes. That education-revenue figure is a projection, not a guaranteed payment, ABC 33/40 reported.
Combined, the projected community-benefit payments and tax revenue would total more than $440 million over two decades, according to the economic development authority. The $270 million community-benefit commitment alone is more than twice the projected school-tax revenue and amounts to about 8.4% of the project’s announced $3.2 billion initial investment.
The latest announcement is narrower than early public permitting documents that drew attention this summer. An Alabama Department of Environmental Management construction-stormwater permit issued to an Applied Digital affiliate covered 136.89 acres of a 1,292.61-acre property and described a potential 2 million-square-foot industrial project. The permit, effective July 20 and running through March 31, 2031, authorizes stormwater discharges associated with construction.
Applied Digital’s announced campus is now described as a 1.26 million-square-foot project on about 160 acres. The company has said the larger tract remains available for future development, but the current local agreement concerns the initial campus.
The project has generated concerns among some Brookwood-area residents, including questions about public disclosure and potential construction runoff into Hurricane Creek, which flows into the Black Warrior River. The site’s stormwater plan places it in a watershed that environmental regulators have treated as a priority construction area because of water-quality concerns.
Applied Digital is part of a rapidly expanding data-center industry built around artificial intelligence, cloud computing and high-density server operations. As of May 31, the company said it had about 1.5 gigawatts — or 1,500 megawatts — of critical IT load contracted and operating or under construction across five campuses, although only about 100 megawatts were then operating and producing revenue. Delta Forge 2’s 210-megawatt capacity would represent 14% of that companywide contracted and under-construction total.
Construction is expected to begin in October. The company has said delivery is expected during the first half of 2028.