Amazon is planning to open an $87 million data center in the Ameriplex complex on Portage’s north side.
Andy Maletta, executive director of Portage Economic Development Corp., said the new building will create 10 new jobs paying $100,000 or more. “We’re pretty excited about that,” he said.
The information technology investment is pegged at $57 million, Councilman Scott Williams said.
High-tech equipment like Amazon’s big servers requires fewer people, but they will be around longer than a warehouse might be, Maletta said.
“They think they might, within the year, be expanding some more,” Maletta said.
Amazon has a history of announcing plans to build warehouses but then not following through. The giant company bought a spec building in Valparaiso that had long been idle and worked on the building to get it ready to be a warehouse before scrapping plans to operate it.
“The equipment they’re putting in the data center, it’s going to be here for a long time,” Maletta said.
“This is a very high security facility,” he added.
The city council granted separate tax abatements to Amazon this month for the real estate and the equipment inside the building. The real estate tax abatement is for 10 years; the equipment tax abatement is for five years.
The council voted 5-1 to approve the abatements. Councilman Ferdinand Alvarez voted against the abatements. “Amazon can afford their own taxes,” he said.
In November, there weren’t enough votes to approve the abatements. Three council members were absent. In December, all but Councilman Pat Clem attended, giving more than the four votes necessary for approval.
The tax impact from the project will be huge.
With the abatements, the data center will generate $7.5 million in taxes over 10 years, Maletta said. Without the project, it would be $180,000.
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
