Data center's $45 million tax break request meets pushback
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A billion-dollar company building a mammoth data center along the Beltline wants a $45 million tax break. Good government and urbanism advocates, community leaders and public officials are working to stop that from happening.
What's happening: Today, the Development Authority of Fulton County will consider whether QTS should get a 10-year reprieve on property taxes for its $1.3 billion server complex on West Marietta Street.
Why it matters: Critics argue that approving the deal — the largest on DAFC's agenda in recent memory, according to Julian Bene, a government finance activist — would mean less tax revenue over time in exchange for little public benefit.
- It will only create 15 to 20 permanent jobs, QTS says. Though it's close to the Beltline, the gargantuan data center — it's roughly the length of three football fields — won't be a major tourist or retail draw.
Details: The company, purchased by financial giant Blackstone in 2021 for roughly $10 billion, is working on the first phase of its 1.5 million-square-foot development in the fast-growing (and nebulously bordered) swath of the city dubbed by some as the Upper Westside.
- QTS says it's contributed nearly $30 million in community improvements, including allowing an easement for the Beltline to build the paved path between the property and the Westside Paper mixed-use development.
Yes, but: Arthur Toal, the president of the Howell Station Neighborhood Association, says QTS told the community during pre-construction talks that the company had no plans at the time to request tax incentives.
What they're saying: The Beltline is funded partly by growth in nearby property taxes. In a memo to DAFC obtained by Axios, Beltline CEO Clyde Higgs said the organization opposed the tax break, saying "in this instance [it] would limit ABI’s future ability to deliver on key programmatic goals such as trails, parks, and affordable housing."
- A QTS spokesperson did not respond to specific questions from Axios. In a statement, they said the center would "unlock the potential of the community and establish the FinTech capital of the world" and "have a powerful and positive impact on the surrounding area."
Of note: Atlanta elected officials have strongly criticized DAFC for giving incentives to developers to build in red-hot areas like the Beltline and Midtown and without requiring affordable units, undercutting the city's goals to improve social equity.
- In 2021, the authority's nine-member volunteer board came under scrutiny after an AJC investigation into questionable per diem payments.