“Facebook is a stellar, cutting-edge, high-tech company, and it’s an honor to welcome them to New Mexico”, said Governor Martinez.
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Last month the New Mexico lawmakers sent a letter to New Mexico Public Regulation Commission (PRC) Chairwoman Valerie Espinoza underscoring Los Lunas, as a prime location for Facebook to build its new data center.
“This is huge for the state of New Mexico, for the region, for the whole Southwest”.
The mayor of a Salt Lake City suburb says he’s disappointed his city wasn’t chosen for a new Facebook data center after critics said a tax-break plan was too generous. The heartache of a broken relationship may soon become less painful on Facebook.
“While we were hopeful that a revised agreement could be reached, this ends any current discussions for West Jordan to welcome Facebook to the state of Utah”, Rolfe said.
“Effective immediately, all negotiations between the company known as Discus and the city of West Jordan are hereby terminated”, the prepared statement read.
Wednesday’s announcement that the social media giant will build in Los Lunas, south of Albuquerque comes after a roller-coaster contest between the two states to attract the facility.
“We’re thrilled to have found a home in New Mexico and embark on this new partnership with the State of New Mexico and the Village of Los Lunas”, said Tom Furlong, Vice President of Infrastructure at Facebook. “It’s not just about the data center”.
Amos did not return requests for additional comment.
“From an energy standpoint, this is a game-changing economic development project, but beyond that, it’s a testament to the potential of New Mexico to attract some of the greatest companies in the world to our state”, PNM CEO Pat Vincent-Collawn said.
The Salt Lake County Council and Mayor Ben McAdams became the loudest critics of West Jordan’s offer to Facebook, concerned about the scope of the tax incentive and the almost 5 million gallons of water per day that would be required to be held in reserves for the 230-acre, 3.3-million-square-foot project.
“We have not heard anything official from the company yet”, she said.
While conversations appeared at a standstill for West Jordan – smarting from public controversy – New Mexico cleared a welcoming path for Facebook, offering an even sweeter deal than West Jordan’s failed incentive package.
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The measure created a mechanism by which Los Lunas would waive the data center’s property taxes in exchange for payments from Greater Kudu, beginning with $50,000 per year with the construction of the first building up to $100,000 per year with the construction of the sixth building. “Any and all incentives and inducements preliminary offered the company to locate in West Jordan are hereby rescinded in whole without prejudice”.
