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West Des Moines Says Data Center Will Pay for Roads and Sewers

City of West Des Moines

Officials in West Des Moines are touting what the news of a third data center from Microsoft means for development in the southwest corner of the city. 

The computer giant is announcing plans to build a one-point-seven million square foot data center in an area straddling Warren and Madison counties within West Des Moines city limits. It will be built in four phases, with the initial investment at $417 million. West Des Moines Mayor Steve Gaer says the project will pay for the infrastructure needed to open thousands of acres to commercial and residential development.

“The advantage for us is the property taxes these developments pay, it is a staggering sum of money we can use to invest in the community,” he says.

Gaer expects more than $12 million in property taxes once all phases of construction are completed. He says 100% of that will go toward extending streets, sewers and water lines, and building a bridge over the Raccoon River. 

“The big thing for development is infrastructure," he says.  "You can’t develop unless you have streets, water and sewer, and the fact we’re going to be able to build as much infrastructure as we can, development naturally wants to gravitate where the infrastructure has already been built.”

The Microsoft data center will be just south of Maffitt Lake.