Cedar Rapids council advances projects for proposed Google data center

A pair of initiatives advanced by the Cedar Rapids City Council this week are helping to pave the way for a proposed Google data center project on the city’s southwest side. At their meeting June 11, the council unanimously approved plans and specifications for a project to extend a 30-inch water main from Edgewood Road SW west to the Big Cedar Industrial Center. The project, with an estimated cost of $5 million, will provide water service for all current and future development in the Big Cedar Industrial Center, including Google’s proposed data center, according to utilities director Roy Hesemann. Construction of the first phase of the project, which will comprise an estimated 5,650 linear feet of water main, is expected to begin in August and be completed by the spring of 2025, according to council documents. The project garnered comments from Isacc Davis, a local resident and regular council meeting attendee, who said that while they supported the plan, there should be “proactive management transparency” regarding the $5 million investment. “Business people might appreciate the phrase ‘what gets measured gets managed,’” they said. “And if we're not measuring, we need to, and we should have specific projections of our total investment and return for the (Big Cedar) center, our actual performance against those projections, and our plans and strategies to maintain the performance … We need to proactively communicate exactly what our projected costs are, a timeline to break even and our financial management strategy for this investment. We need to communicate the story of how this investment is going to be used to promote the well-being of our residents.” The plan was approved unanimously by the council without discussion. The council also unanimously approved a request from the Iowa Land and Building Company, an economic development subsidiary of Alliant Energy, to vacate a portion of land that will allow for the relocation of Old Bridge Road between the CRANDIC rail crossing and 68th Avenue SW. The road segment is being relocated to the west so that ITC can build a new electrical substation to support the proposed Google data center, according to council documents. ITC has paid $1,380 plus $69 in closing costs to acquire the .65-acre parcel for the Old Bridge Road relocation. Even as both measures move ahead, Google has yet to officially confirm plans to build a data center project at the Big Cedar site. The project was first tied with Google in March, when the global technology firm was identified as the company proposing the monumental data center project in southwest Cedar Rapids – a project that, with a minimum investment of $576 million, would become the largest economic development project in the city’s history, officials have said. The council approved a development agreement for the project in February, and the Iowa Economic Development Authority approved a financial incentive package March 22. Under the development agreement with the city of Cedar Rapids, Heaviside LLC is proposing to develop “one or more” data centers in the Big Cedar Industrial Center, near the intersection of 76th Avenue and Edgewood Road SW – a project that would subsequently be owned and operated by Google. Construction of the project would begin within three years of the effective date of a final development agreement. The project would comprise the first development in the Big Cedar Industrial Center, Iowa’s largest industrial site at 1,391 acres, which includes an 890-acre parcel designated as the state’s only certified Mega-Site. The project would also include the addition of at least 31 full-time employment positions, all at or above the high-quality wage rate, which was $24.20 per hour in Linn County as of 2022.