urbanSTL

Stl PR - St. Charles approves a ban on data centers


https://www.stlpr.org/2026-05-20/st-cha ... ta-centers

Embarassing to see them be far more progressive than the city.

The largest single investment in state history.

Google invests $15 billion in Montgomery County data center - St. Louis Business Journal https://share.google/uX8OG0MHH1OBqvdLt

How will it be powered?

Proof that size doesn't matter. $16.7 million per acre is also not that much for a major project. Millennium redevelopment proposal is worth some 12x more per acre and in turn have a far greater impact on Missouri's future.

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I posted a couple weeks ago that I drove around the Lebanon IN Meta data center project and it’s massive. If this truly is a $15B Google deal, I can’t imagine the breadth and size of this thing. So many construction jobs and probably 200-300 permanent well-paying jobs. Kudos to Montgomery County.

I still wish the north riverfront was a data center cluster though. I think once the city pols read what’s coming to Montgomery County they will get jelly FAST.

According to an internal memo, Intuit plans to lay off around 3,000 employees in its shift to AI. 

https://www.reuters.com/business/world-at-work/intuit-cut-17-global-jobs-streamline-operations-memo-shows-2026-05-20/

Did you see these graduates booing AI? Hard to be excited about something that will take all our jobs

The Data-Center Divide
Why politicians are squandering the anti-AI backlash
https://archive.is/RDBNs#selection-755.0-849.52

Missouri Independent - Google data center plan raises tax, transparency questions in rural Missouri


https://missouriindependent.com/2026/05 ... -missouri/

https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/new ... tives.html

Google's proposed $15 billion data center will get a 70% personal property tax break across 25 years valued at $1.62 billion to $2.19 billion.

Google would be required to create 75 permanent jobs that pay more than 150% the county's median wage (which I believe comes out to about $52,000).

Montgomery County will issue industrial revenue bonds to help finance the project.

Google will also donate $5 million per completed building per year towards infrastructure upkeep in the county, in addition to a $20 million fund to help with utility costs in the county.

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Wow, a donation! Why don't they just pay some taxes?

Data Centers Now Consume 6% of US Electricity—and the Backlash Has Begun
https://singularityhub.com/2026/05/22/data-centers-now-consume-6-of-electricity-in-the-us-and-the-backlash-has-begun/

Ebsy wrote: ↑

3:22 AM - May 23

Wow, a donation! Why don't they just pay some taxes?

Can't write those off!

The Farmers Who Fought a Data Centre—and Won
https://macleans.ca/longforms/the-farmers-who-fought-a-data-centre-and-won/

I think some on this blog would agree that a chunk of north riverfront industrial area along w existing old industrial infrastructure & city water underutilized water capacity might be a  pretty good landing spot for data center and therefore a much needed tax revenue for city coffers.    Heck, add a bucket for city affordable housing and dedicated city inftrastructure improvements (whether be streets, parks, sidewalks, bikeways and trees).   

The amount of capital behind it is real, huge and will be spent somewhere.   I just see a generational opportunity for the city and its residents to add a legitimate tax base while at same time siphon some data center boom for real investment in city infrastructure.   

https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/americas-da ... _lead_pos1

America’s Data Center Build-Out Is Falling Way Behind Schedule

Google, which is raising a fresh $80 billion, has a strategy for getting around the biggest bottleneck

Tech companies are earmarking unprecedented sums of money to finance the build-out of massive data centers, with a planned $80 billion equity-raise by Google parent Alphabet GOOGL being the latest example.

Cops Are Spying on People Who Criticize AI Data Centers Online 
https://theintercept.com/2026/06/01/ai-data-center-protest-police-surveillance/

something similar could be on the north riverfront?    https://en.people.cn/n3/2026/0606/c90000-20464553.html

I like how they label it as North China as if that legitimized their behavior against the Mongolian region. 

Gov. JB Pritzker puts pause on data center tax breaks after legislative effort stalls
Pritzker called on state lawmakers to tackle the burgeoning nationwide issue during their fall veto session. 
https://chicago.suntimes.com/springfield/2026/06/05/pritzker-pause-data-center-tax-breaks-ai

BarryGlick wrote: ↑

11:22 PM - 7 days ago

Gov. JB Pritzker puts pause on data center tax breaks after legislative effort stalls
Pritzker called on state lawmakers to tackle the burgeoning nationwide issue during their fall veto session. 
https://chicago.suntimes.com/springfield/2026/06/05/pritzker-pause-data-center-tax-breaks-ai

To me, that is one more reason the city needs to move on a north river industrial data center site/defined development zone.   Heck, build up the greenways and bikes path along the river itself and build an urban/tree belt way on the other side as buffers.   Throw in some minimum community investment contribution requirements for affordable housing & city infrastructure.