The city\u2019s economic development department is proposing to offer the company a 50% tax break on property taxes for its equipment for 10 years provided the company meets certain conditions around jobs, investment and salaries.<\/p>\n
The company has to invest at least $1.1 billion building and outfitting the data center and create 50 jobs with an average annual salary of $73,000.<\/p>\n
The deal is expected to cost the city about $18.2 million in taxes, but net it $49.3 million over the life of the agreement, according to a presentation at the March 3 City Council work session.<\/p>\n
Edged promotes itself as an energy efficient alternative to the typical data center developer. It uses a waterless cooling system, which the company says helps makes its data centers about 25% more energy efficient<\/a> than the industry average.<\/p>\n The company has data centers in Irving<\/a>, Atlanta, Chicago, Phoenix, Kansas City, Des Moines and Columbus.<\/p>\n The project would be in an area zoned for industrial development, next to a proposed Oncor substation, and already has approval from the state\u2019s power grid operator ERCOT. There is a buffer separating the property from nearby housing developments.<\/p>\n The proposal comes nearly a month after the council delayed a rezoning request for another data center project<\/a> in southeast Fort Worth from local energy consortium Black Mountain.<\/p>\n That project, near the city\u2019s borders with Everman and Forest Hill, has drawn opposition from neighbors concerned about the impact of data centers on city resources like water.<\/p>\n City Council member Jeanette Martinez, who called for the pause at the Feb. 10 meeting, expressed concern about the council\u2019s lack of knowledge about the community impact of data centers.<\/p>\n She requested a briefing ahead of a planned March 10 vote on Black Mountain\u2019s rezoning requests.<\/p>\n That briefing was expected on March 3, however, in an email to the Star-Telegram, Assistant City Manager Jesica McEachern said the city couldn\u2019t coordinate with representatives from Oncor and ERCOT to get a briefing ahead of the March 10 vote.<\/p>\n The city council is expected to vote on the proposed tax break package at its 11 a.m. meeting on Tuesday, March 31.<\/p>\n