Microsoft invests $1.1 billion in a new data center in Iowa

Iowa is quite the hot spot for data centers, with the state attracting Microsoft yet again to build its new data center in West Des Moines, a spot where the company already runs a data center.

The investment is costing $1.1 billion, with the project being one of the largest in the history of the data center industry. The new facility will be spanned across 1.2 million square feet of space, on a massive 154-acre property. This data center has been a mystery for a while now, something that has been known as Project Alluvion.

On Friday, the Iowa Economic Development Authority Board approved a $20.3 million sales tax rebate to Microsoft on the project, something that will be made available until 2021. This is on top of the $18 million in incentives that the company has been promised by West Des Moines. Microsoft will be pumping around $8 million a year in property taxes back into the city, as well as creating 84 jobs when its fully built up. 66 of those jobs will have hourly wages of $24.32.