LOCKPORT – Although ground hasn’t been broken for the second phase of Yahoo’s data center complex in Lockport, the Internet giant is already looking ahead to phase three.
The Town of Lockport Industrial Development Agency board voted this morning to sell Yahoo about 20 more acres of land in the town’s industrial park.
The deal, for $15,000 an acre, brings to 63 acres the amount of property controlled by Yahoo in the park off Upper Mountain and Junction roads. It gives the California-based company an L-shaped campus in the heart of the 200-acre industrial park.
Yahoo completed a five-building, 190,000-square-foot data center in 2009, set on 30 acres of land. That $150 million center employs 77 people.
Last year, it bought 13 more acres east of the existing data center, and announced plans for a three-building, $170 million data center and customer call center that would cover 150,000 square feet and employ about 115 people. The town IDA approved the project April 25.
As for the third phase, IDA Executive Director David R. Kinyon said, “They have not shared their exact plans with us. They would like to build additional data center capacity.”
IDA attorney Daniel E. Seaman said the survey of the third parcel hasn’t been completed, so the exact acreage and the exact total purchase price are undetermined.
He said $15,000 an acre was what Yahoo paid for its previous purchases. Seaman said the contract gives the IDA the right to buy the land back if Yahoo doesn’t develop it.
The IDA granted Yahoo 20-year tax abatement packages on both the completed development and the one approved earlier this year. They included 10 years of complete exemption from property taxes, followed by eight years of reduced taxation, as well as 20 years of exemption from paying sales taxes on building materials or equipment used to construct and equip the data centers.
As for when construction might begin on the second phase, Kinyon said, “They’re still talking September-ish. … Our town Planning Board has not seen or approved the site plan.”
The Planning Board has tabled the Yahoo matter for three consecutive months because there was no plan for it to act upon. Chief Building Inspector Brian M. Belson told The Buffalo News Wednesday, “The problem is on the West Coast.”
Kinyon said there appear to be extensive internal discussions at Yahoo about what the second complex should look like. “They have a very inclusive process,” he said.
However, Kinyon reported to the IDA board that New York State Electric & Gas Corp. has completed the relocation of a line of utility poles in the park to accommodate Yahoo’s construction plans.
A statement from Yahoo about the new purchase was expected later today.
The new land sale reduces the amount of available land in the industrial park to 32 acres.
“It just underscores the need to obtain the 90 acres from General Motors,” Kinyon said, referring to an eminent domain effort the IDA started after it was unable to reach a purchase agreement with GM for land west of the GM Components Holdings plant, which borders the industrial park.
GM has sued to block the taking, and the case is to be heard in December in the Appellate Division of State Supreme Court in Rochester.
email: tprohaska@buffnews.com
The Town of Lockport Industrial Development Agency board voted this morning to sell Yahoo about 20 more acres of land in the town’s industrial park.
The deal, for $15,000 an acre, brings to 63 acres the amount of property controlled by Yahoo in the park off Upper Mountain and Junction roads. It gives the California-based company an L-shaped campus in the heart of the 200-acre industrial park.
Yahoo completed a five-building, 190,000-square-foot data center in 2009, set on 30 acres of land. That $150 million center employs 77 people.
Last year, it bought 13 more acres east of the existing data center, and announced plans for a three-building, $170 million data center and customer call center that would cover 150,000 square feet and employ about 115 people. The town IDA approved the project April 25.
As for the third phase, IDA Executive Director David R. Kinyon said, “They have not shared their exact plans with us. They would like to build additional data center capacity.”
IDA attorney Daniel E. Seaman said the survey of the third parcel hasn’t been completed, so the exact acreage and the exact total purchase price are undetermined.
He said $15,000 an acre was what Yahoo paid for its previous purchases. Seaman said the contract gives the IDA the right to buy the land back if Yahoo doesn’t develop it.
The IDA granted Yahoo 20-year tax abatement packages on both the completed development and the one approved earlier this year. They included 10 years of complete exemption from property taxes, followed by eight years of reduced taxation, as well as 20 years of exemption from paying sales taxes on building materials or equipment used to construct and equip the data centers.
As for when construction might begin on the second phase, Kinyon said, “They’re still talking September-ish. … Our town Planning Board has not seen or approved the site plan.”
The Planning Board has tabled the Yahoo matter for three consecutive months because there was no plan for it to act upon. Chief Building Inspector Brian M. Belson told The Buffalo News Wednesday, “The problem is on the West Coast.”
Kinyon said there appear to be extensive internal discussions at Yahoo about what the second complex should look like. “They have a very inclusive process,” he said.
However, Kinyon reported to the IDA board that New York State Electric & Gas Corp. has completed the relocation of a line of utility poles in the park to accommodate Yahoo’s construction plans.
A statement from Yahoo about the new purchase was expected later today.
The new land sale reduces the amount of available land in the industrial park to 32 acres.
“It just underscores the need to obtain the 90 acres from General Motors,” Kinyon said, referring to an eminent domain effort the IDA started after it was unable to reach a purchase agreement with GM for land west of the GM Components Holdings plant, which borders the industrial park.
GM has sued to block the taking, and the case is to be heard in December in the Appellate Division of State Supreme Court in Rochester.
email: tprohaska@buffnews.com