MT. PLEASANT, Wis. — The expansions planned for Racine County are anything but micro for the tech giant looking to drop tens of millions of dollars in land investment.
“We’re here today because Microsoft is committed to driving inclusive economic opportunity in Southeast Wisconsin,” AJ Steinbrecher, Director of North America Land Acquisition for Microsoft said. “In supporting these aspirations to become a technology and innovation hub. Wisconsin’s unique quality, significant infrastructure and state designation as a U.S. regional technology hub make it an ideal place to develop datacenters and cloud technologies.”
As part of its presentation, a map of proposed land purchases was shown to the Village of Mt. Pleasant Board. In total, Microsoft is proposing to purchase 631 acres of public land for $42,818,000. Alan Marcuvitz, an attorney for the Village of Mt. Pleasant says the purchase works out to $158,000 per acre.
Additionally, Microsoft is purchasing another 400 acres of private farmland for an undisclosed price.
“With these purchases, Microsoft will own 1,346 acres,” Marcuvitz said. “1,346 acres is more than 2 square miles that will be devoted to Microsoft Development.”
Part of this purchase includes land formerly owned by Foxconn. As part of the agreement, Foxconn will release its rights in those areas, allowing the Microsoft project to move forward. Microsoft says it will complete these purchases by the end of 2023, so any property owned by Microsoft will be on the 2024 tax rolls.
Within four years, Microsoft is making a guarantee that the value of the land will be $1.4 billion as of Jan. 1, 2028.
“From my point of view, the financial point of view, this is a great win for the village and I don’t have any reservations,” Todd Taves, Senior Municipal Advisor for Mt. Pleasant said.
Microsoft’s spokespeople were adamant they will be good community partners and say they are already working to create good relationships.
Gaby DelaGarza works as the Senior Director of Global Datacenter Community Affairs for Microsoft. She explained their goal to create positive relationships with more than just elected officials. DelaGarza hopes the make Microsoft a staple within the community, having had meetings with organizations to learn the community priorities that are important.
As a result, DelaGarza says Microsoft has committed $500,000 in its first year to community investments. Last week, they signed a memo of understanding with Gateway Technical College to create the first Datacenter Academy in Wisconsin. They also are partnering with the United Way to support programs addressing community priorities.
“The Datacenter Academy empowers the next generation of technology leaders,” DelaGarza said. “It helps create a diverse and local talent pool of skilled information technology workers in communities we operate our datacenters.”
Microsoft is also spending $4.2 million to restore a mile and a half of Lamparek Creek that crosses the company’s property.
In two weeks, on Nov. 27, the Village Board will vote on this proposal. It’s the first opportunity the public will have to make comment as well.
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