BUSINESS

Microsoft closes on $50 million land purchase adjacent to Foxconn in Mount Pleasant

Ricardo Torres
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Microsoft Corp. has closed on its $50 million purchase of 315 acres of land adjacent to the Foxconn Technology Group property in Mount Pleasant.

The Village of Mount Pleasant, Racine County, Racine County Economic Development Corp., Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. and Milwaukee 7 announced the completion of the purchase on Thursday.

Microsoft plans to invest $1 billion to build a data center campus. Site readiness work could start this year pending approvals.

Microsoft data centers typically employ 300 to 400 people.

More:What's happening at the Foxconn site in Wisconsin five years after the company announced its plans

The Racine County Board and the Village Board each approved separate development agreements with Microsoft in April.

“This is an exciting next step in the process of welcoming Microsoft’s new data center development to Racine County,” Racine County Executive Jonathan Delagrave said in a statement. "This project offers an incredible growth opportunity for our community."

Foxconn will receive the proceeds from the Microsoft land sale as a partial reimbursement of money Foxconn paid to the village in 2017 to acquire land.

“We are proud to move forward with this highly anticipated development,” Mount Pleasant President David DeGroot said in a statement. “The purchase of this land, which has been transformed in recent years, is a win for taxpayers and residents alike.”

Microsoft has about 200 data centers in more than 30 countries. The company's data center customers in southeastern Wisconsin include Fiserv, Rockwell Automation and Kohler Co.

Each data center is a key internet hub with thousands of servers supporting cloud computing services.