Microsoft plans Racine County expansion, investments

Microsoft investment in Racine County

Microsoft is planning to expand its proposed Mount Pleasant data center footprint, investing billions more in new developments.

MOUNT PLEASANT, Wis. - Microsoft is planning to expand its proposed Mount Pleasant data center footprint, investing billions more in new developments.

It might currently look like a Racine County farm field, but crews are already transforming it and getting it ready for data centers.

Jim Paetsch is Vice President of the Milwaukee 7, the regional economic development entity for southeastern Wisconsin. He said it is a "big win" for the entire region.

"To have a company of Microsoft’s stature and scale deciding to make an investment into our region that’s going to be in the billions of dollars," Paetsch said. "We’re really excited about it."

In May, the company bought 315 acres. Now they want to buy more than 1,000 more.

"This is a lot of land. Two square miles of land is what we’re talking about here," Paetsch said. "We think Microsoft gives us just that much better of a story that we can tell on that front, globally."

The company said they will house thousands of computer servers in what looks like a distribution warehouse.

Microsoft's land acquisition director AJ Steinbrecher laid out the plans in front of the village board.

"Overall, we are here today because Microsoft is committed to driving inclusive economic opportunity in southeastern Wisconsin and supporting these aspirations to become a technology innovation," Steinbrecher said.

"It’s really going to put Wisconsin, quite frankly, on the map as a technology hub and that was really kind of our hope and goal back in 2017 with Foxconn," Mount Pleasant senior advisor Claude Lois said.

The Foxconn plan fizzled; the iPhone manufacturer once floated having 13,000 jobs in Wisconsin. It now reports about a thousand workers.

But now, a lot more construction will be coming to the same tax increment district. The tech giant’s draft agreement will give Microsoft until Jan. 1, 2028 to build 1.4 billion in assessed value in Wisconsin. If not, they'll have to pay back the money.

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"Why they’re here? In my opinion, it’s all the things we did back in 2017," Lois said. "All the land, all the infrastructure, all the stuff that quite frankly, we got criticized on, why did we keep spending the money to build it? Why are you putting that stuff in the dirt, when there’s nothing there. Well, this is why."

The Mount Pleasant board and the Racine County board both have to approve the new Microsoft agreements. Both will meet after Thanksgiving, where community members can share their thoughts, and the boards will vote.