A former Bitcoin mining facility in Dickens County, Texas, is undergoing a transformation into a 1.6 gigawatt data center, requiring housing for hundreds, potentially exceeding 1,000, temporary workers. Developers are increasingly utilizing temporary housing settlements, known as “man camps,” to accommodate the influx of labor needed for artificial intelligence data center construction.
Target Hospitality has secured contracts totaling $132 million to build and operate the camp in Dickens County. Workers are reportedly housed in gray modular living units, with amenities including a gym, laundry facilities, game rooms, and a cafeteria offering on-demand steak meals.
Troy Schrenk, Target Hospitality’s chief commercial officer, has described the market for this type of housing as “the largest and most practical opportunity set” he has ever seen, signaling the company’s belief that the U.S. Data center construction boom represents a significant growth opportunity.
The move to utilize man camps echoes a previous pattern in the energy sector, where such settlements were commonly used to house workers in remote oil field locations.
Target Hospitality as well operates the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas, which holds families detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Court documents have reportedly contained allegations of food contamination – including the presence of worms and mold – and inadequate accommodations for children with allergies or special dietary needs. These allegations have not been independently verified by world-today-news.com.
In December 2025, Texas allocated $5 million to establish a state cryptocurrency reserve, betting on Bitcoin. A fireside chat at the North American Blockchain Summit in November 2025 featured a Texas State Senator discussing the state’s strategic Bitcoin reserve.