Village Of Mount Pleasant Approves Deal To Sell Portion Of Foxconn Land To Microsoft

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After the Foxconn site has been empty for five years, there is now the prospect of new developments on the horizon.

On Thursday, the Mount Pleasant Village Board of Directors unanimously approved a plan to sell some of the Foxconn land to Microsoft.

The tech giant announced earlier this month that it plans to invest $1 billion to build a data center on 315 acres of Foxconn land.

On Thursday, the Village of Mount Pleasant unanimously agreed to sell the property to Microsoft for $50 million. According to the agreement, Foxconn will release all rights to the land and receive the proceeds of the sale.

"We are thrilled to have Microsoft as one of our newest resident companies," said David DeGroot, CEO of Mount Pleasant Village.

Mount Pleasant officials said the deal could be worth millions of dollars to the city.

"If the city is able to keep the mill rate as low as it was last year for a decade and simply roll this amount forward, over time this increase will add more than $265 million in tax revenue." said Alan Markowitz, attorney for Mount Pleasant City.

On Thursday, the majority of the population showed widespread support.

"Not only the citizens of Mount Pleasant, but Racine County and the surrounding area will benefit for years to come," said Mount Pleasant business owner Ernie Ross.

"We continue to work with Microsoft now, I've worked with it since I was a little kid, I'm a Microsoft shareholder, full disclosure, but I never dreamed of it as a little kid," said Ray Leffler, a resident of Racine.

Even so, some people at Thursday's meeting were still fired by Foxconn's unfulfilled plans.

Racine County Board member Marlo Harmon asked, "How many employees will work at the facility? How many employees will live at the facility? "How much money will it return to the investors? "

Senator Vanguard attended the meeting on Thursday. Although 13,000 jobs will not be available at Foxconn, he said he hopes Microsoft's prospect will attract more young talent to the region.

"We know the technology companies and we know that our young people need to invest and participate in these opportunities in the technology companies and they are not here," he said.

Racine County is required to sign the following agreement with the Purchase Agreement executed by Mount Pleasant. County planners will discuss the measure at two meetings next month.

Read more: Village of Mount Pleasant agrees to sell part of Foxconn land to Microsoft

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