Nov. 13, 2023 8:50p
(WGTD)---Details of a planned expansion of Microsoft’s presence in Mt. Pleasant remain sketchy. But village officials are confident enough to say that a tentative deal between Microsoft, the village and the county will erase any uncertainty village taxpayers may have had over the Foxconn deal.
Construction began earlier this year on a Microsoft data center on land originally earmarked for Foxconn. Microsoft now wants to more than triple the size of its footprint, and put up a total of four buildings on a site that would grow to more than 1,300 acres in size.
Microsoft is guaranteeing that the investment will be worth at least $1.4 billion by 2028. That’s in addition to an equal amount guaranteed by Foxconn six years ago for its property in Mt. Pleasant. Foxconn is expected to start "make-up" payments later this year because the company failed to achieve the growth it originally projected. That amount is expected to be $14.3 million, village officials said.
But the main topic at Monday night's meeting was Microsoft. "What we have for you to consider, if approved, also protects the village and the county against any type of worst-case scenario that has been warned by critics over the past six years," Village Attorney Christopher Smith told the board. "Whether the worries are founded or unfounded, this project here will protect us,' he said.
If both the village board and Racine County Board sign off on the deal later this month, Mt. Pleasant expects to be able to pay off any Foxconn-related debt years ahead of schedule. The Microsoft expansion plan includes no local incentives.
Two Microsoft officials also addressed the village board. One said the company’s expanded presence in Mt. Pleasant will be designed to support the “cloud infrastructure” needs of its customers. Another referred to a recently-signed memorandum of understanding with Gateway Technical College that has the two entities agreeing to work together to establish a "data center academy."
Work is ahead of schedule on the data center that was approved by the village and the county earlier this year. It's one of over 300 such centers around the world, and expects to employ over 200.
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