Harlingen hits pause on $27M offer from company planning 1,000-acre data center

New York City-based technology startup Fluidstack offered Harlingen city commissioners a $20 million donation and $7 million in infrastructure improvements on Wednesday night in exchange for drainage approvals for its 1,000-acre data center planned near the Port of Harlingen. 

But instead of accepting the donation, city commissioners asked the company to host an open house in Harlingen to share its plans with the community before the city decides on the company’s drainage approval request — instead of after — which the data center business planned to do. 

“That could do a lot in our community. I know it would help with the streets, with the drainage projects, and that would do a lot of benefit. But saying yes, for me, that’s kind of selling our soul, and I will not do that,” Harlingen District 5 Commissioner Rene Perez said.

Harlingen commissioners already passed a data center moratorium, but because the project is outside city limits, they cannot control the two data centers proposed next to the airport. Several concerned residents spoke out against the data center project, questioning whether the city was being transparent in its process and saying they felt left out of major decisions.