The Daily Reporter – WI Construction News & Bids Wisconsin's Construction Authority
Construction of the Foxconn Technology Group campus globe in Mount Pleasant. Microsoft will purchase 315 acres of land in a tax increment district for the tech industry with a goal to build a $1 billion data center campus. (Mike Di Sisti / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
The Mount Pleasant Village Board on Thursday approved several agreements for the Microsoft Corporation to purchase 315 acres of land for a future data center campus. The Racine County Board will consider the proposal at its April 11 and April 18 meetings.
As previously reported by The Daily Reporter, Microsoft agreed to buy the land on the east section of a 3,921-acre tax increment district for $50 million, village officials said. The parcel sits on Tax Increment District 5 (TID 5) which the village created for tech manufacturing tenants.
“Having a corporate resident such as Microsoft within TID 5 will only serve as a magnet to attract additional high-level growth to Mount Pleasant,” Mount Pleasant Village President Dave DeGroot said at a meeting.
The village and Racine County will work on a “tight schedule” to push Microsoft’s agreement through the approval process, DeGroot said. The village board will meet again on Thursday at 5:30 p.m., followed by county meetings on April 11 and April 25. If local officials approve the process within the timeline, Microsoft can execute the purchase by July 31. The agreement had taken a year of planning, DeGroot said.
The first phase of construction of the data center is slated for no later than July 1, 2026, and the second phase is scheduled to start by July 1, 2033, the development agreement said.
The development site is located south of Braun Road, north of County Highway H and in between 90th Street and a railroad right-of-way, village officials said.
Foxconn will receive proceeds from the Microsoft land sale as part of the implementation agreement between the village, Racine County and Foxconn, village officials said. The proceeds are a partial reimbursement of the funds Foxconn sent in 2017 to acquire land in TID 5.
The agreement doesn’t lessen any of Foxconn’s obligations under its development agreement and the agreement doesn’t provide any new benefits for Foxconn, village officials said.
The village, Racine County, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, the Racine County Economic Development Corporation and Milwaukee 7 announced the agreement.
“Village, County and State officials planned for a long-term future to accommodate development and investment by a variety of companies. We have presented a tremendous opportunity for companies, like Microsoft, to invest,” Racine County Executive Jonathan Delagrave said.
