Meta and BlackRock form $14 billion joint venture for Texas data center

5:30 AM ET · July 30, 2026

Meta and BlackRock unveiled a joint venture Tuesday to develop and operate a data center campus in El Paso, Texas, at a total development cost of about $14 billion, structured so BlackRock managed funds own 80 percent of the project and Meta retains 20 percent. At financial close, Meta is contributing land and construction in progress assets worth roughly $2.3 billion, BlackRock is putting in about $4.9 billion in cash, and the venture is raising $12.5 billion in debt financing, with Meta also receiving a one time payment of about $1 billion to align the ownership split. The campus will deliver 1 gigawatt of compute capacity and is expected to begin operating in 2028, with Meta as the sole tenant under a lease carrying a four year initial term and options to extend for up to twenty years. Meta says the project already has more than 2,300 workers on site, with construction employment expected to peak above 4,000 jobs and roughly 300 permanent operational roles once it is running. The companies also announced community commitments alongside the deal, including a $500,000 grant to El Paso schools for STEM and skilled trades programs and a nearly $30 million push through BlackRock’s Future Builders initiative to train more than 12,000 electricians across Texas. The deal is one of several recent arrangements in which Meta has brought in outside capital to fund its data center buildout rather than carrying the full cost on its own balance sheet.