Dell to Pump $25M into Round Rock HQ

Dell Technologies is putting more money into its Texas headquarters, even as it trims its global headcount.

The tech giant is planning a $25 million expansion over the next five years at its campus in Round Rock, Austin’s largest suburb. Round Rock City Council unanimously approved Dell’s nomination as a qualified enterprise project under the Texas Enterprise Zone Program, the Austin Business Journal reported.

The designation makes the company eligible for state sales tax refunds worth up to $1.25 million if it follows through on its capital commitments and job retention goals. Round Rock officials said Dell’s project will include real estate and equipment investments across the 1 Dell Way campus, including new construction and renovations. In 2024, the nearly 900,000-square-foot office property was appraised at $81.1 million for tax purposes.

The company’s application said 500 jobs are tied to the incentive program, but they’ll mostly be from retention rather than new hires. Dell committed to filling at least 35 percent of new or replacement roles with economically disadvantaged workers, veterans or residents of enterprise zones. While Dell hasn’t updated its Round Rock headcount recently, it previously employed about 13,000 in the area before companywide layoffs in 2023 and 2024.

The move comes at a paradoxical moment for Dell. On Aug. 28, the company reported record quarterly revenue of $29.8 billion, up 19 percent year-over-year thanks to demand for AI-related products, and raised its full-year revenue outlook to $107 billion. But investors weren’t impressed: Dell shares dropped more than 10 percent the day after the earnings release. Meanwhile, Dell has cut its global workforce by 10 percent each of the past two years, shedding about 25,000 jobs since early 2023.

The move to reinvest in the region comes as other companies weigh their future presence in Austin. In Downtown Austin, Meta began the process of subleasing some of its space at Sixth and Guadalupe, securing a subtenant for the 32nd floor. Meta pre-leased the 33 floors at 400 West 6th Street Meta but never moved in. Indeed also looked to shed five floors —184,000 square feet of Class A space — at the Domain.

The expansion reaffirms Round Rock’s reliance on Dell as its largest employer. Chamber officials said the company has been nominated for enterprise zone status five times before, and recent filings with state regulators point to multiple construction and renovation projects already underway at the campus.

— Eric Weilbacher