Microsoft finalizes $50M land purchase in Mount Pleasant

UPDATE on June 13, 2023: Microsoft has officially purchased 315 acres of land in the Mount Pleasant area for a data center with a total investment of $1 billion on the horizon.

Racine County Executive Jonathan Delagrave told TMJ4 that the land sale, which is worth approx. $50 million, has been in progress since the Fall of 2022. Microsoft is anticipated to break ground on their new facility by June 2024.

UPDATE on April 19, 2023: Reports indicate that Racine County officials have approved Microsoft’s $1 billion proposal to establish a data center near the Foxconn site, clearing the way for an investment that will create hundreds of jobs while helping to solidify Wisconsin as a destination for the tech industry.

As confirmed by Taylor Lumpkin of TMJ4, Microsoft will also reinvest into the surrounding communities, including small businesses, to promote the growth of commerce in the Mount Pleasant area.

“This is a place where Microsoft will recruit and hire and hopefully retain employees,” Paul Englis, global director of community research and engagement for Microsoft, told TMJ4. “Our community investments are really designed to help bring economic inclusion and help sort of bridge the digital divide.

“We help with the curriculum, we donate equipment to the schools so they can have labs for the students to work on, we provide scholarships.”

This is a breaking development. The following article has been left unaltered from its original publish date on March 29, 2023.

MOUNT PLEASANT, Wis. — Tech giant Microsoft is in talks to build a billon-dollar data center across 315 acres of land it would purchase from the village of Mount Pleasant — a small portion of the 1,275 acres it owns and operates east of I-94.

The Milwaukee Business Journal previously reported that the village began seeking new suitors once it became clear that Foxconn wouldn’t be able to fulfill its previous commitment on the land.

That sparked a search for the right business development opportunity in the village of Mount Pleasant, which is located approx. 60 miles north of Chicago and less than 30 miles south of Milwaukee in Racine County.

Originally, the village of Mount Pleasant established 2,500 acres of land ready for development through an agreement with Foxconn. It has since become apparent that Foxconn wouldn’t need the full space, opening the path for the village to pitch this land for further business development.

MBJ acquired the following statement from David DeGroot, the village president of Mount Pleasant:

“Microsoft was attracted to this location because it is primed for development,” DeGroot said. “Through local investments, we have transformed this area of Mount Pleasant and equipped it with the infrastructure necessary to support a major investment by Microsoft.”

The sale, which is currently estimated at a valuation of $50.1 million, would occur by the end of July as per current terms which are subject to change. MBJ also reports that the property taxes generated by the sale could be reinvested in the infrastructure of critical farmlands in and around the village of Mount Pleasant.

Intel Corp. reportedly expressed interest in buying a portion of this land, but opted for a different site in Ohio.

This statement, released to MBJ by representatives of Foxconn, expresses a show of support for this sale and its implications for Wisconsin as a destination for the intersection of business and technology:

“The collaboration with Microsoft and local government demonstrates Foxconn’s partnership with others to further the goals and intentions of creating a science and technology hub.”

If the sale is completed, Foxconn would get a cut of the profits based on its previous $60 million investment into the land’s development.

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