BRYAN, TX — On May 11, Brazos County commissioners unanimously approved an economic development agreement, for a privately-owned data center to be built on Texas A&M's RELLIS campus.
This agreement gives up to $9 million dollars in future property tax revenue to the developer and arrives just two months after the Bryan City Council voted to release $16 million of said type of revenue.
Construction on the building will be required to begin by Nov 1 and upon its completion, will reportedly be nearly five times the size of a Walmart.
Brazos County is currently requiring the following as part of the agreement:
- A minimum valuation of the real and personal property at $100 million dollars two years after construction is completed
- A minimum valuation of $200 million within five years
Upon meeting these requirements, the owner will be reimbursed up to 50% of property taxes over a ten-year period.
At the time of this publication, said owner will not be required to have a minimum payroll or amount of employees.
During the Brazos County commission meeting on May 11, the owner announced he anticipates about 100 to 150 employees, with salaries ranging between $75,000 to $100,000.
However, former Bryan city councilman, Mike Southerland, asked commissioners to re-evaluate this decision as he felt this incentive would be going towards a project that is already happening.
According to Brazos County commissioners, this will be the largest business by taxable value in the history of the entire county.
In addition to the new data center, the complex will have classrooms and offices on the 25 acres the private developers acquired through a ground lease from the A&M System.
Furthermore, the facility will allow the A&M System to help the region by offering technical workforce training.
Through an effort with the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service, or TEEX, the System will be able to leverage the data center facilities to provide certification programs to train people in information security, network engineering, and other specialties.
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