HUGE MEGA PROJECTS.....

Facebook parent Meta announces mega expansion to Eagle Mountain data center project

Work is performed on servers at Meta’s Eagle Mountain Data Center in Eagle Mountain on Friday, Sept. 30, 2022. Meta is expanding the data center, increasing the total investment to over $1.5 billion. Once completed, the center will be a 4.5-million-square-foot campus.

© Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News Work is performed on servers at Meta’s Eagle Mountain Data Center in Eagle Mountain on Friday, Sept. 30, 2022. Meta is expanding the data center, increasing the total investment to over $1.5 billion. Once completed, the center will be a 4.5-million-square-foot campus.

Facebook parent company Meta announced a mega expansion to its massive Eagle Mountain data center build-out on Friday.

Meta already has five buildings constructed on the site, a few miles south of Eagle Mountain’s city center, comprising 2.4 million square feet of space that houses data storage and processing equipment for the world’s biggest social media platform.

The Phase 3 expansion plans unveiled Friday call for two more giant structures that will add about 2 million additional square feet to the facility and bring Meta’s total capital investment in the Eagle Mountain project to $1.5 billion, according to the company.

On Friday, Meta also announced a $200,000 donation in support of the Central Utah Water Conservancy District’s Hobble Creek Flow Restoration project in Utah County. Meta says the donation is part of a larger effort to fund water restoration projects that equal 200% of Eagle Mountain facility’s water consumption. Meta also says its in-house data center designs are 80% more water efficient than the industry average.

“We are thrilled to be expanding our presence in Utah,” Darcy Nothangle, Meta’s director of community and economic development, said in a statement. “Eagle Mountain, the state of Utah and Rocky Mountain Power have been outstanding partners from the beginning and we look forward to continuing this strong and fruitful partnership for years to come.

“Today’s expansion announcement, together with our donations to the Hobble Creek Flow Restoration Project and Flip Your Strip program, further underscore our commitment to Eagle Mountain and Utah County.”

Eagle Mountain Mayor Tom Westmoreland accompanied members of the media on a tour of the facility Friday and said the fast-growing city is bearing direct benefits from the data center investment, in spite of a package of municipal and state tax breaks that could be worth as much as $750 million in the coming decades.

“If we’re just looking at numbers there’s a high return on that investment,” Westmoreland said. “This land prior to Meta being here brought in a grand total of $35 annually. … Now it brings in millions even with that tax increment.”

Westmoreland said one of Meta’s first moves, before it began data center construction, was investing $120 million in infrastructure improvements that included extending utility service and roads to its site. That kind of cash outlay, Westmoreland said, is better coming from a private sector partner than from levying a tax increase on residents.

And, the mayor said, the investment has already helped draw other giant investments to the area, including a $300 million Tyson Foods plant and a Google data center.

“In order to reach our goal we need these kinds of partners, the Metas, the Googles, the Tysons,” Westmoreland said. “Because of their capabilities, because of their expertise, because of their resources and the positive impacts they can make.”

Exactly how much data Meta’s Eagle Mountain facility will be able to hold is a little murky.

The company isn’t saying, but experts estimate the highly secretive National Security Agency data center in Bluffdale, which has a similar footprint, might accommodate 3-raised-to-the-power-of-12 exabytes of data. And don’t feel bad if you haven’t heard of an exabyte, the term for 1,000 to the 6th power or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes of information.

Before it became known as Meta, Facebook unveiled the Eagle Mountain project in May 2018 after rumors and speculation about a mysterious big tech project in the area swirled for months. The depth and breadth of local and state tax incentives provided as a lure for the company were also clarified at that time, and they are unprecedented.

If all five phases of the data center project are completed in the next few decades, Facebook is set to harvest a potential $750 million in taxpayer subsidies along the way.

Phase 2, announced in late 2019, added 500,000 square feet of additional facilities to the first phase and pushed the capital investment to $1 billion, according to the company.

While Facebook is currently in the third phase of the project, the open-ended incentive agreements extend public benefits well beyond the first three phases and could land the company hundreds of millions in additional tax relief over the next four decades.

In addition to its capital costs, Facebook is investing about $150 million in infrastructure improvements, including bringing power to the 500-acre site from a nearby high-capacity power line corridor, extending sewer and water service, bringing in telecommunication lines and improving roads.

That infrastructure investment is expected to be equalized by the Phase 1 tax benefits of $150 million over 20 years. That tax break gives Facebook 100% tax relief on personal property taxes and 80% relief on real property taxes for a term of 40 years for four of the five taxing entities it’s beholden to.

Only the Alpine School Board created some caps on those benefits, with limits of $40 million per phase and $120 million total over 35 years. Alpine School District represents the biggest beneficiary of the taxes Facebook will pay — and the entity giving up the most via the tax break package — as the recipient of about 70% of the total taxes due. The company will also enjoy some sales tax exemptions created specifically for data centers by the Utah Legislature.

A study commissioned by Eagle Mountain on the project detailed that if Facebook carries the project through five phases inside the 40-year limit, the company would earn $750 million in tax relief.

Utah is currently home to numerous data centers, including facilities operated by eBay, Twitter, Oracle and the National Security Agency.

Saying 1.5 million square feet is way too big, Willington rejects ‘gargantuan Godzilla’ warehouse

In a major victory for hundreds of Willington homeowners, town planning officials unanimously rejected a Texas developer’s proposal for a 1.5-million-square-foot warehouse along I-84.

The project that opponents dubbed a ”gargantuan Godzilla” had targeted 160 acres of hillside woodlands for a TradeCenter 84, a mammoth warehouse with 228 loading bays and parking for 700 trailers and 500 cars.

“This was a big win,” Kerry Bagley said Wednesday morning. “We didn’t want this for our town, it’s just not the place. I think companies will get the hint that we’re not just some podunk little town that they can push around.”

“I’m very, very excited. That could have changed the whole landscape of Willington,” resident Nick Tella said. “I know some people were even looking at selling their houses if this passed.”

Tella said he was concerned that a Hillwood victory would set a precedent, and said “It could turn Willington into mega-warehouse town.”

After three long nights of public hearings that featured many dozens of residents speaking passionately against TradeCenter 84, the planning and zoning commission on Tuesday night unanimously rejected the proposal.

The proposal to build TradeCenter84 in Willington sought to build a 1.5-million-square-foot warehouse on 160 acres of woodlands just off I-84. (Douglas Hook / Hartford Courant) (Douglas Hook)

Hillwood Development Co., a Dallas-based company that has built mega-warehouses around the country for Amazon and other clients, wanted to change the land’s zoning from residential to Strategic Development.

Town residents objected to clearing and flattening the wooded hillside by Exit 70, and warned of noise and light pollution.

Neighbors in Stafford and and other nearby towns also balked at the prospect of increased truck traffic using back roads to reach I-91 or I-395.

Residents jammed into hearings over the summer to oppose the plan, saying it was far too large for their small, semi-rural town. An online petition to block the project had gotten just over 2,000 signatures as of Wednesday.

Hillwood billed TradeCenter 84 as a source of hundreds of new jobs and potentially up to $3.8 million a year in fresh tax revenue to the town.

At Wednesday’s session, the local attorney representing Hillwood and its partner, The New Haven Group, also cautioned the commission of other development possibilities for the site if the warehouse idea failed. Tom Cody of Robinson & Cole’s Hartford office said the landowners might take the rejection as a signal to pursue selling to other developers, possibly for single-family homes.

“This is 160 acres, R-80 zone (with a) roughly 2-acre minimum lot size, you could probably get 50 o 60 single-family lots on the property,” Cody said.

“Even a residential subdivision involves extensive tree clearing, grading and site disruption. It would involve construction of quite an extensive length of public streets which would have to be plowed, paved and maintained by the town,” Cody said.

The proposal to build a 1.5-million-square-foot warehouse just off I-84 in Willington generated plenty of concern among Willington and Stafford residents, who feared a relentless convoy of tractor trailers on their roads. (Douglas Hook / Hartford Courant) (Douglas Hook)

“And of course, a residential subdivision would certainly generate a considerable number of school-age children that would need to be educated,” he said.

Commissioners concluded the size and scale of the project wouldn’t be consistent with the town’s development plan.

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“This is a massive development with the potential to change the face of the town,” Chairman Walter Parsell III said, acknowledging that the vast majority of speakers at previous hearings were against the plan.

On Wednesday, Cody emailed a statement but did not respond when asked if his clients will continue pursuing the TradeCenter84 plan.

“While the development team is disappointed with the outcome, we appreciate the planning and zoning commission’s time and review of our application, as well as the engagement and feedback we received from town residents,” Cody wrote.

Resident James Marshall, who called the TradeCenter84 proposal “absurd” for a town of Willington’s size, is proposing modifications to the Strategic Development Zone.

The town established that zoning provision recently as an economic development initiative, but Cody wants Willington to impose caps on the size of new commercial or industrial projects. The FedEx distribution facility in town is about 200,000, and Marshall said no new use should exceed that.

He also wants the town to require developers to provide significantly more information to the commission in the early stages of review. In addition, the zoning code should specifically define the different types of warehouses that it covers, he said.

“This zone was brand new and untested. As is the case with many new things, the full ramifications aren’t really known until it’s put into practice,” Marshall said. “Now that we’re done dealing with the crisis, I hope the application process can be improved so we fix the problem.”

Meta announces mega expansion to Facebook data center in Utah

Work is performed on servers at Meta’s Eagle Mountain Data Center in Eagle Mountain on Friday. Meta is expanding the data center, increasing the total investment to over $1.5 billion. Once completed, the center will be a 4.5-million-square-foot campus. (Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)

Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes

EAGLE MOUNTAIN — Facebook parent company Meta announced a mega expansion to its massive Eagle Mountain data center build-out on Friday.

Meta already has five buildings constructed on the site, a few miles south of Eagle Mountain's city center, comprising 2.4 million square feet of space that houses data storage and processing equipment for the world's biggest social media platform.

The Phase 3 expansion plans unveiled Friday call for two more giant structures that will add about 2 million additional square feet to the facility and bring Meta's total capital investment in the Eagle Mountain project to $1.5 billion, according to the company.

On Friday, Meta also announced a $200,000 donation in support of the Central Utah Water Conservancy District's Hobble Creek Flow Restoration project in Utah County. Meta says the donation is part of a larger effort to fund water restoration projects that equal 200% of Eagle Mountain facility's water consumption. Meta also says its in-house data center designs are 80% more water-efficient than the industry average.

"We are thrilled to be expanding our presence in Utah," Darcy Nothangle, Meta's director of community and economic development, said in a statement. "Eagle Mountain, the state of Utah and Rocky Mountain Power have been outstanding partners from the beginning and we look forward to continuing this strong and fruitful partnership for years to come.

"Today's expansion announcement, together with our donations to the Hobble Creek Flow Restoration Project and Flip Your Strip program, further underscore our commitment to Eagle Mountain and Utah County."

Data facilities manager Scott McLain walks past a fan wall used to cool servers used at Meta’s Eagle Mountain Data Center in Eagle Mountain on Friday. Meta is expanding the data center, increasing the total investment to over $1.5 billion. Once completed, the center will be a 4.5-million-square-foot campus. (Photo: Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)

"If we're just looking at numbers there's a high return on that investment," Westmoreland said. "This land prior to Meta being here brought in a grand total of $35 annually. … Now it brings in millions even with that tax increment."

Westmoreland said one of Meta's first moves, before it began data center construction, was investing $120 million in infrastructure improvements that included extending utility service and roads to its site. That kind of cash outlay, Westmoreland said, is better coming from a private sector partner than from levying a tax increase on residents.

And, the mayor said, the investment has already helped draw other giant investments to the area, including a $300 million Tyson Foods plant and a Google data center.

"In order to reach our goal we need these kinds of partners, the Metas, the Googles, the Tysons," Westmoreland said. "Because of their capabilities, because of their expertise, because of their resources and the positive impacts they can make."

Exactly how much data Meta's Eagle Mountain facility will be able to hold is a little murky.

The company isn't saying, but experts estimate the highly secretive National Security Agency data center in Bluffdale, which has a similar footprint, might accommodate 3-raised-to-the-power-of-12 exabytes of data. And don't feel bad if you haven't heard of an exabyte, the term for 1,000 to the 6th power or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes of information.

An artist’s rendering of the future additions to Meta’s Eagle Mountain Data Center in Eagle Mountain on Friday. Meta is expanding the data center, increasing the total investment to over $1.5 billion. Once completed, the center will be a 4.5-million-square-foot campus. (Photo: Meta) Meta's unprecedented tax incentives

If all five phases of the data center project are completed in the next few decades, Facebook is set to harvest a potential $750 million in taxpayer subsidies along the way.

Phase 2, announced in late 2019, added 500,000 square feet of additional facilities to the first phase and pushed the capital investment to $1 billion, according to the company.

A study commissioned by Eagle Mountain on the project detailed that if Facebook carries the project through five phases inside the 40-year limit, the company would earn $750 million in tax relief.

Utah is currently home to numerous data centers, including facilities operated by eBay, Twitter, Oracle and the National Security Agency.

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