Terafab is being built at two Texas locations. The full-scale production complex is at the Gibbons Creek Reservoir site in Grimes County — roughly 9.5 miles southeast of Anderson and about 20 miles east of Bryan–College Station. A smaller research fab is already under construction at Tesla's Giga Texas North Campus in Austin.
👉 The confusion to clear up first: Terafab was originally announced for Austin. The Austin site still exists — but as the research fab. The actual production complex went to Grimes County, roughly 90 miles away.
- Production site: Gibbons Creek Reservoir, Grimes County, Texas — the former Gibbons Creek Steam Electric Station, off Highway 30.
- Distances: roughly 20 miles east of Bryan–College Station, 70 miles northwest of Houston, 90 miles northeast of Austin.
- Research site: Tesla's Giga Texas North Campus in Austin — ground broken April 2026, already under construction.
- Size: more than 100 million sq ft planned, with renderings showing a building roughly 2.5 miles long.
- Confirmed: August 6, 2026, when Governor Abbott announced the Grimes County site with a $16.8 billion first phase.
Terafab Location: Two Sites, Two Purposes
When Musk announced Terafab in March 2026, Austin was the stated location. That was accurate for the prototype facility and incomplete for everything else. The production complex only got a confirmed address five months later.
| Austin research fab | Grimes County production complex | |
|---|---|---|
| Exact location | Giga Texas North Campus, Austin | Gibbons Creek Reservoir site, off Highway 30 |
| Status | Under construction since April 2026 | Agreements signed; civil work first, construction within months |
| Purpose | Rapid iteration — make, test, revise the mask, repeat | High-volume manufacturing of validated designs |
| Scale | A few thousand wafer starts per month | 100,000 wafer starts / month, scaling toward 1 million |
| Lead company | Tesla | SpaceX |
| Jobs | Not separately disclosed | 3,000 permanent in phase one, plus thousands in construction |
The Grimes County Site: Exactly Where It Is
The production complex sits on the Gibbons Creek Reservoir property in Grimes County. The Texas Water Development Board places the reservoir about 9.5 miles southeast of Anderson, on Gibbons Creek — a tributary of the Navasota River, itself a tributary of the Brazos.
Project filings describe the site as being off Highway 30, roughly 20 miles east of Bryan–College Station, 70 miles northwest of Houston and 90 miles northeast of Austin. The county seat, Anderson, is the nearest town of any size.
Distances from the Terafab site
| Destination | Approximate distance | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Anderson, TX | 9.5 miles northwest | County seat; where commissioners meetings are held |
| Bryan–College Station | ~20 miles west | Nearest metro; Texas A&M talent pipeline and housing |
| Houston | ~70 miles southeast | Port access, industrial supply chain, airports |
| Austin | ~90 miles southwest | Giga Texas and the Terafab research fab |
| Within 1 hour drive | 7.2 million people | SpaceX's stated labour-pool argument |
| Within 3 hours drive | 15.9 million people | Texas Triangle catchment |
✔ If you are searching "Terafab College Station": the fab is not in College Station, but it is the closest metro at roughly 20 miles. Expect most workforce and housing impact to land in the Bryan–College Station area first.
What Was There Before: A Dead Coal Plant
This is a brownfield redevelopment, not greenfield construction — which is a large part of why the site was available at this scale.
- 1981 — the reservoir is impounded by the Texas Municipal Power Agency as a cooling pond for the Gibbons Creek Steam Electric Station, a coal-fired plant.
- 2018 — the coal plant ceases operations.
- October 2021 — the plant is imploded.
- 2021 — the property, comprising roughly 6,000 acres of land plus the reservoir, passes to a redevelopment owner for remediation and reuse.
- June 3, 2026 — Grimes County commissioners approve a reinvestment zone covering the site.
- August 6, 2026 — SpaceX and Tesla confirm Terafab will be built there.
The reservoir itself is substantial: state records list about 2,576 acres of surface area at a conservation pool elevation of 247 feet, storing 26,171 acre-feet, with a drainage area of roughly 75 square miles.
💡 Insight most coverage misses: an industrial site with existing water rights, existing transmission infrastructure and no residential displacement is extraordinarily rare at 6,000 acres. The dead coal plant is the reason this location was even possible.
Why This Site? 5 Reasons SpaceX Chose Grimes County
- Water storage, not groundwater. SpaceX's representative was explicit at the county meeting: "We definitely did not pick this location for groundwater" — the reservoir's value is its ability to store rainwater.
- Brownfield land at scale. Roughly 6,000 acres of former power-plant property, already industrial, already remediated in part.
- Texas Triangle position. 7.2 million people within an hour, 15.9 million within three — a labour catchment that a truly remote site could not offer.
- Permitting speed. Texas permitting timelines are materially faster than states with heavier environmental review regimes — a decisive factor for a project of this size.
- Proximity to the Musk portfolio. Giga Texas is about 90 miles away; SpaceX's McGregor engine facility and Bastrop operations are within a similar radius.
Asked directly why here, SpaceX's site lead acknowledged there is no perfect location in the United States for a project of this scale — this was simply the best option found.
Water and Power: The Two Local Questions
Water
SpaceX has committed to drawing industrial water from Gibbons Creek Reservoir rather than local groundwater, and says the facility will use closed-loop systems that reuse and recycle water. Company representatives told residents the project would not deplete local water resources or dry up the Navasota River.
On-site wastewater treatment, water reuse and conservation measures are part of the campus design, with hazardous materials handled under applicable environmental regulations.
Power
Rather than lean on the grid, SpaceX says it will build its own natural gas-fired power plants — and battery storage — to supply Terafab, claiming they will be the cleanest per megawatt in the country. It has also stated it will not draw from the ERCOT grid in a way that raises costs for other ratepayers.
⚠ Worth watching: these are commitments made at a public meeting, not yet permit conditions. Air permits for the gas plants and water-use authorisations are the documents that will make them binding. Neither had been finalised as of August 10, 2026.
Impact on Bryan–College Station and Local Housing
Grimes County is rural and its housing stock is thin. Local MLS data in mid-2026 showed roughly 13 rental listings and about 110 homes for sale in the entire county.
Local real estate professionals expect the first significant wave of workers to settle in Bryan–College Station rather than in Grimes County itself, with Grimes developing capacity over time. Add thousands of construction workers needing temporary housing during build-out and the near-term pressure is obvious.
On the employment side, SpaceX has committed to 3,000 permanent phase-one jobs spanning food service, janitorial work and security through to advanced semiconductor fabrication engineering, plus thousands of construction roles. Millwrights were singled out as a trade expected to be in high demand.
Local Opposition and Open Concerns
- Tax breaks. Hundreds of residents attended the August county meeting, raising concerns over the scale of abatements awarded and a perceived lack of transparency.
- Rural character. Business Insider covered organised opposition over the project's size relative to the county's rural population.
- Environmental impact. Water use, air permitting for the gas plants and hazardous materials handling remain live local issues.
- Infrastructure strain. Roads, schools and emergency services in a county of this size were not built for a workforce of thousands.
For balance: the state's incentive package includes a $30 million Texas Enterprise Fund grant and JETI qualification, and the county has published the executed tax abatement and economic development agreements — so the terms are a matter of public record for anyone who wants to read them.
Checklist: Tracking Construction at the Site
- Watch Grimes County Commissioners Court agendas — permits and agreements surface there first.
- Read the executed abatement and economic development agreements on the county site, not press summaries.
- Track air permit applications for the on-site gas generation — they will specify actual capacity.
- Watch water-use authorisations tied to Gibbons Creek Reservoir.
- Monitor Bryan–College Station rental and land listings as a leading indicator of workforce arrival.
- Note that civil work and foundations come before any groundbreaking announcement.
👉 Reality check on timing: as of August 10, 2026 there is still no published groundbreaking date or first-wafer date for the Grimes County complex. Only the Austin research fab is confirmed under construction.
FAQ
Where exactly is Terafab located?
At the Gibbons Creek Reservoir site in Grimes County, Texas, about 9.5 miles southeast of Anderson and roughly 20 miles east of Bryan–College Station, off Highway 30.
Is Terafab in Austin or Grimes County?
Both, with different roles. The research fab is at Tesla's Giga Texas North Campus in Austin; the full-scale production complex is in Grimes County.
How far is Terafab from Houston?
Roughly 70 miles northwest of Houston — commonly described in coverage as about an hour northwest of the city.
How big is the Terafab site?
The property is roughly 6,000 acres of land plus the reservoir. The planned facility exceeds 100 million square feet, which would rank it among the largest buildings on Earth.
When does construction start in Grimes County?
Civil work was described as beginning almost immediately after the August 2026 announcement, with full-scale construction expected within months. No formal groundbreaking date has been published.
Summary
Terafab's location answer has two halves. Austin hosts the research fab that is already being built at Giga Texas North Campus. Grimes County hosts the production complex — on the Gibbons Creek Reservoir property, a decommissioned coal plant site with roughly 6,000 acres, existing water storage and no residential displacement.
The site choice was driven by water storage capacity, brownfield availability, Texas permitting speed and a labour catchment of millions inside the Texas Triangle. The unresolved parts are local: air permits, water authorisations, housing capacity and a construction timeline that still does not exist on paper.
Following the build for job, contracting or investment reasons? The county agenda and the permit filings will move before the press releases do — bookmark this page for updates as milestones land.
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