Mystery Company Revealed Behind Cedar Rapids Data Center

We now know the company involved in a proposed $576 million data center in Cedar Rapids.

The Iowa Economic Development Board's Friday meetings packet let the cat out of the bag today, according to the Cedar Rapids Gazette. Internet giant Google was named today as the company behind the huge new proposed development on the city's southwest side. If the project advances, Google will build one or more data centers in the Big Industrial Center in Cedar Rapids.

The new data centers would sit along 76th Ave. and Edgewood Road SW. The Gazette reports that under the agreement the new project would create at least 31 full-time employees paid at or above a high quality wage rate. Officials with the project say that more than 31 people could get jobs at the new center, plus the seven to eight years of construction will create hundreds of long-term construction jobs.

Cedar Rapids City Manager Jeff Pomeranz told the Gazette that the new center is the largest economic development project in the history of the city of Cedar Rapids. He added that the city had been working to secure the project for nearly five years.

The Gazette reports that under the deal with the city of Cedar Rapids, Google will receive a 20-year, 70% tax exemption as long as it meets employment thresholds and high-quality job applications are approved. The tax breaks would begin once the first data center is complete.

In 2022, Google's economic impact report stated that it spurred $1.45 billion of economic activity for Iowa businesses, according to the Gazette.

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