Pflugerville inks deal with $210 million data center

The deal calls for Pflugerville to build a new road, improve area infrastructure, build an on-site power substation and provide discounts on water for the facility at a cost of about $11 million, plus provide tax rebates over a 15-year period.

The data center has, as of now, no named tenants, though Angelos Angelou, principal executive officer for Angelou Economics Global Economic Development, said he was optimistic a potential tenant was in the works.

“A tenant has expressed strong interest and has been looking at the site for some time,” Angelou said.

Floyd Akers, executive director of the Pflugerville Community Development Corp., said the potential tenant was an Austin-based data center looking to expand its operations.

The incentives are expected to clear the way for the construction of a data center on about 50 acres of land west of Stone Hill Town Center that officials say will create 25 jobs in the first year and 170 total jobs within a decade. The average salary for those jobs in the first year is expected to be $67,500.

The facility itself is expected to add at least $210 million to local tax rolls, though Angelou said the potential was much higher.

“This project’s going to be a success right from the beginning because there are a number of owners who have expressed interest in this site,” Angelou said.

The agreement calls for 75 percent abatement of property taxes after $100 million is invested by the company in the location, which is expected after the first year of the agreement. An economic analysis drawn up by Impact DataSource estimated $3.5 million in taxes would be rebated over the 15 years of the deal.

Additionally, Pflugerville agreed to bond $4.75 million to build a new road--Pfluger Farm Road--and infrastructure improvements, plus another $2 million for an on-site power substation. The city also agreed to sell discount water to the center at $2.25 per 1,000 gallons.

The PCDC also agreed to grant $3,000 per job up to 170 jobs and to pay $350,000 to bring fiber-optic cables to the site.

All told, Impact DataSource estimated the cost of these incentives would be just more than $15 million over 30 years, including debt service costs.

However, Akers said the deal, if estimates hold, would have the city paid back in property taxes, sales tax, and other sources of income in about 11 years. He added that if the land attained a value of $600 million--which he said was possible--it would provide the city with the sales tax equivalent of two Stone Hill Town Centers, the city’s major shopping center at Toll 45 and Toll 130.