Bell County Commissioners Court in Texas, a governmental body overseeing cities including Temple, Texas, has authorized a tax abatement agreement with Polmer LLC, a Delaware company, of which Facebook (Meta Platforms) is the beneficial owner, to incentivize the construction of an $800m data center, on a 399.2-acre site, at Temple Industrial Park.
Notably, Bell County’s decision closely follows Polmer LLC signing a tax abatement agreement, economic development agreement, and water & wastewater agreement with the City of Temple, Texas. Finally, Polmer LLC is also seeking the Temple College Board of Trustees’ authorization for a tax abatement agreement at an upcoming meeting scheduled for January 24, 2022.
Data Center Development – Temple Industrial Park
Polmer LLC’s proposed data center is located at the southeast corner of Industrial Boulevard and Loop 363 in Temple, Texas. Presently, the property is owned by the Temple Economic Development Corporation. Additionally, the property is designated as the City of Temple Tax Abatement Reinvestment Zone #43.
Ultimately, the Temple Industrial Park forms part of a corporate campus environment that the City of Temple, Texas is attempting to create in the northwest party of the city. Specifically, this corporate campus area is shown as the dark purple area below:
Development Plan
Polmer LLC will construct one or more new data centers within Temple Industrial Park based on a minimum investment commitment for Phase I of $800m. In terms of timing, the company will commence construction within the next two years and complete construction of Phase I within five years of its construction commencement date.
Additionally, the data center development will create and maintain at least 40 new permanent full-time jobs. To this end, Bell County notes that these jobs would pay average wages of $90k per year.
Polmer LLC is able to develop the data center in phases, over a period of multiple years. As such, the company will be eligible for separate abatements for each subsequent phase, based on certain investment levels.
Finally, Bell County stated that there is the potential for this project to scale-up, with an additional $800m investment, as the project progresses.
Tax Abatement Agreement – Polmer LLC, Bell County, City of Temple
Bell County’s tax abatement agreement with Polmer LLC will abate a percentage of the increases in the taxable value of certain real and personal property located in the Temple Industrial Park. Specifically, there are two separate agreements:
- Year 1 through 10: 75% ad valorem tax abatement on the increase in the taxable value of real and personal property from the City of Temple and Bell County. Additionally, there is a 10-year, 50% tax abatement from Temple College
- Year 11 through 20: 75% ad valorem tax abatement on the increase in the taxable value of real and personal property. However, this agreement has a slightly different structure, with a payment in lieu of taxes
Water and Wastewater Agreement – Polmer LLC, City of Temple
The City of Temple, Texas, has a water & wastewater agreement with Polmer LLC to provide potable water supply and water-carried waste services and infrastructure at the development site.
As part of this agreement, Polmer LLC will pay to the City of Temple, Texas, $8.0m as consideration for completion of certain infrastructure improvements. This payment will contribute to the City of Temple’s $29.8m infrastructure improvement plan for the area, which includes water transmission mains and sewers.
Temple, Texas – Data Center Developments
Beyond Polmer LLC, the Temple Economic Development Corporation is also pursuing a data center development project with Rowan Green Data. As announced in October 2021, Rowan Green Data plans to build a new 500-megawatt hyperscale data center campus, which will be located on 32 acres in southeast Temple, in Synergy Park.
