Microsoft to Build $1B Data Center at Old Foxconn Site in Wisconsin
The 315-acre plot of land was originally intended for a massive Foxconn factory that fell through.
Microsoft is taking over a $50 million, 315-acre plot of land in southeastern Wisconsin originally intended for a massive Foxconn factory that famously failed to live up to its hype.
Microsoft plans to build a $1 billion data center on the site 30 miles from Milwaukee.
In 2017 Taiwan-based Foxconn Technology Group, the world’s largest electronics manufacturer and maker of Apple iPhones, announced plans with great fanfare to build a $10 billion facility that would employ 13,000 people. Despite receiving nearly $3 billion in tax breaks, the company grossly undelivered on the promised jobs and capital investment, adding fuel to the fire in hotly contested debates about the value of incentives. The incentives were later drastically reduced.
The parcel of land purchased by Microsoft is part of a tax-increment financing district that includes the Foxconn campus. The Racine County Board of Supervisors approved the agreement for the sale on Tuesday, following an announcement of the plan in late March. County officials hope the cache of attracting Microsoft to the site will lure in other companies.
Microsoft hasn’t confirmed how many people the data center will employ but did say such centers typically have 300-400 workers. Construction of the facility is set to begin by summer 2026 at the latest.
As part of the agreement, the sale money will go to Foxconn. Although Mount Pleasant maintained ownership of the land, Foxconn paid the village $60 million for rights to the property, which it now relinquishes. Microsoft is eligible to recoup 42 percent of the annual incremental property taxes it pays on new construction, up to a maximum $5 million annually.