After massive land buys, New Albany gives major tax cut for planned data center

NEW ALBANY, Ohio (WCMH) -- The computer giant behind Windows and Xbox is getting a substantial tax benefit for a planned data center on nearly 200 acres in central Ohio.

During its Tuesday night meeting, the New Albany City Council unanimously voted to give Microsoft a 100% property tax abatement for 15 years. The move exempts the company from paying any property tax at 3287 Beech Rd., a roughly 197-acre plot intended to host a data center.

Before voting, the council detailed that Microsoft planned to start building the property's first, 245,000 square-foot building in April 2026, to the tune of $420 million. With a projected finished date of December 2027, the data center will need 30 full-time employees to operate. Council members noted the property could host more data center buildings, whose construction would be dependent on customer demand and expenses.

Bowen Wallace, a Microsoft representative, confirmed data center plans for the Beech Road property to NBC4 in May, after the company bought more than 700 acres across at least six parcels in Licking County. Wallace noted that construction on its data centers in the area was already underway.

The Beech Road property was one of Microsoft's first central Ohio purchases, acquired for $56.98 million from an affiliate of the New Albany Company in June 2023, according to Licking County Auditor records. Other firms like Amazon Data Services -- which already operates seven central Ohio locations -- and DBT Data also acquired nearby land for similar centers in January of the same year. And in May 2023, Google announced it would bring one facility each to Columbus and Lancaster to accompany an existing one in New Albany.

The tech companies are gathering within miles of Intel's multibillion-dollar semiconductor fabrication plant under construction in Ohio. Despite recent concerns surrounding the Ohio One project's federal funding and Intel's plans to distance itself from its chip-making division, Microsoft and other firms haven't shown any signs of pullback in the region.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates also has a hand in a separate project in Madison County. In March, a company received approval to construct an 800-megawatt solar power and battery facility across 4,400 acres, owned in part by Gates.