Meta behind plans for latest Iowa data center

Two months after signing off on public incentives to lure a $576 million Google data center to Cedar Rapids, the Iowa Economic Development Authority has given the green light for incentives to land an $800 million data center operated by Meta in Davenport.

The state authority last week signed off on the city of Davenport's 20-year, 60 percent property tax exemption for the potential data center. Board documents named Meta — the parent company of popular social media sites Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp — as the company seeking to build the Davenport site.

Previous documents had identified the company only as Vemerald LLC, which a state news release describes as a "wholly owned subsidiary of Meta Platforms, Inc."

Meta plans to continue evaluating a 328-acre parcel in northwest Davenport at the northwest corner of Hillandale Road and Enterprise Way until the first quarter of 2025, according to the state board's agenda documents.

If it goes ahead with the project, the company would break ground by the fourth quarter of 2025 and complete the data center by the end of 2027.

According to the state board's agenda documents, Meta's data center would create 35 jobs paying $28.76 per hour or more. When the Davenport City Council approved the application earlier this month, the number of high-paying jobs was expected to be 50, according to city documents.

Davenport's tax incentives would save the company about $161 million over 20 years. The city of Davenport estimates it would receive $50.6 million more in property tax revenue than if the data center weren't built.

The state board previously approved a local tax incentive package for a Meta facility in Altoona in 2019. That data center was anticipated to be a $400 million project creating 31 jobs paying about $30 an hour.

The data center could be among the largest economic development projects in Davenport. Most recently, Amazon built and opened a $250 million fulfillment center nearby.

Iowa has at least 26 data centers, including the Blue Bird Quad Cities Data Center in Bettendorf. Meta and Microsoft have data centers in the Des Moines area and Google built a data center in Council Bluffs.

If Google’s Cedar Rapids project advances, the company would build one or more data centers along 76th Avenue SW and Edgewood Road SW in the Big Cedar Industrial Center.

It would be the largest economic development project in the city’s history based on the level of investment, said Cedar Rapids City Manager Jeff Pomeranz.

Under an agreement approved with Cedar Rapids, the development would create at least 31 new full-time employees paid at or above the high-quality wage rate, which starts at $26.20 per hour and ramps up to at least $31.44 by the end of the contract performance period. Construction is anticipated to start within three years of the development agreement taking effect.

Under the deal, the company would receive a 20-year, 70 percent tax exemption so long as it meets employment thresholds and the high-quality job application is approved. The tax break would start once the first data center is complete.