Google’s $ 1 billion Port of Little Rock data center buildings to cover 1.43 million square feet | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

Google’s $1 billion Port of Little Rock data center project will consist of five 1.43 million square foot industrial buildings, two office buildings and a power station, according to a document submitted to the US Army Corps of Engineers Little Rock District.

This document is the first to explain important details about the project, called “Project Boar.”

City officials and economic development experts said they signed nondisclosure agreements with the tech giant, barring them from discussing the project publicly. Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., was not revealed as the developer of the project until a report by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in January.

The document was submitted by Willowbend Capital LLC — a front company used by Google as it advances the project — as part of its application for a permit under the Clean Water Act. The public comment period for the permit application ends on April 24.

Google’s application does not mention the facility’s water or electricity needs, which experts say could be substantial. A Google spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. The company has not yet approved the project.

“Once we sell the land to these people, they’re on their own … my view is that since they’ve applied for the permit, they’ve made their primary commitment,” said Little Rock Port Authority Executive Director Bryan Day.

He said that the initiative includes land survey and land study.

Day said the permit could take two to six months to be approved. He has not been briefed on the project’s construction timeline and signed a non-disclosure agreement with Willowbend.

The five proposed buildings combined are about a third the size of Amazon’s now-shuttered LIT1 facility at the port.

The Google Center will have transmission lines, a sewage lift station and a parking lot. Construction will include filling about 16.8 acres of wetlands, and Google plans to purchase land mitigation credits as a mitigation measure, according to the application.

The discharge of dredged or filled material into federally designated wetlands is illegal under the Clean Water Act, unless the Corps issues a discharge permit. For approved projects with unavoidable impacts, applicants are required to make mitigation compensation to replace the loss of certain wetlands. That can be done in three ways: site reduction, reducing fees or discount banks.

Google chose the latter option for its data center project. However, the costs of those wetland mitigation banks are unclear. Fees can vary widely in price, from $500 to $106,000 per acre, depending on the type of loan purchased, according to the Environmental Law Center.

The applicant for the project was Michael Montfort, a Willowbend Capital executive, according to Secretary of State documents. Montfort is also listed as an organizer, organizer and director of Forgelight Ventures LLC, the company developing the proposed $1 billion data center in Conway.

Montfort has not responded to repeated requests for comment. The environmental engineer listed on the application, Tom Huetter of Harbor Environmental, could not be reached for comment.

Little Rock Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Jack Thomas declined to comment.

Google is also developing a $4 billion data center campus in West Memphis.

Entergy Arkansas, Inc. plans to add about 2,600 megawatts of new generation and restore about 1,600 megawatts of existing generation over the next five years, in part to meet the needs of customers for large equipment such as data centers.

Entergy Arkansas customers will pay most of the bill for the construction of the power plant to meet the growing demand for electricity. The terms of Google’s agreement and use have not been disclosed.

Little Rock’s ongoing data center project began nearly a year ago, when the Little Rock Board of Directors approved a memorandum of agreement to sell 380 acres at the Port of Little Rock to Willowbend. Since then, the land has been rezoned for heavy industrial use, a move that reduces noise, dust and odors.

The Google data center will be located off Zueber Road, east of Harper Road in Sweet Home.

Under the terms of the memorandum, Google will make an annual payment of $300,000, with an increase of $200,000 for each data center rebuilt. That payment has a 2% increase every five years. Google’s deal includes at least a 65% reduction in property taxes for 30 years.

The project is expected to create 50 jobs.

Arkansas has attracted five hyperscale data center projects across central and eastern Arkansas. Officials say these developers were attracted to Arkansas because of its affordable land prices and favorable laws.

Lucas Dufalla is a member of the American Corps. Funding for this publication comes from the Journalism Project.