Mesa approves deal to lure $1 billion Google data center
The Mesa City Council approved a development agreement Monday to bring a Google data center to the city’s tech corridor.
The facility is planned on 187 acres of farmland on the northwest corner of Elliot and Sossaman roads. It will join five other planned or existing data centers in the Elliot Road Technology Corridor, including an Apple facility.
Construction is expected to begin within the next five years, with the first 250,000 square feet in place by July 2025. Google is expected to spend $1 billion to build 750,000 square feet by July 2029.
The deal includes a property tax break of $16 million over 25 years, although the city estimates Google operations would still contribute some $61 million to city tax coffers in that time.
The measure was approved with Councilman Jeremy Whittaker abstaining because he owns Google stock.
Whittaker told The Arizona Republic that he was concerned by the tax break that is more often provided to large corporations than small businesses that “power our country.”
Still, he said the development will bring in strong revenue compared to the current farmland.
“I think the amount of revenue that it will be generating, it’s a win for Me
sa,” Whittaker said.
The city will initially provide nearly 1 million gallons of water per day to the Google facility, which could increase to nearly 4 million per day if Google meets expected development milestones, according to the deal.
Mesa could offer no estimate on the number of jobs the Google data center would create, although the jobs would pay an average of at least $65,000 annually, according to a city document.
Arizona has seen a growing number of data centers in recent years, including Microsoft’s purchase of three large parcels in Goodyear and El Mirage for data centers.
Data centers aren’t known for being large employment hubs as they are often highly automated and require few people to operate.
Mesa officials have previously said data centers could spur other tech companies to come to the area.