Google Cedar Rapids campus, 76th Avenue SW and Edgewood Road SW
development agreement, signed, signed 2024-02-29
Operator: Google
Developer: Heaviside LLC (Google development entity); Google LLC on the state contract
Scale: 419.69 acres · 576,000,000 USD
419.69 acres per Exhibit 1.1 of the agreement. $576 million is the Minimum Investment in Section 1.1(r) and the IEDA contract. MW left null: The Gazette (April 2024) reported an ITC Midwest interconnection application for up to 300 MW of new load from facilities at or near Big Cedar, which Alliant called uncertain; no document states the project's own load.
Verification: read from the signed document
A strong version: A fund that scales with the project, with a community seat on the body that spends it
amount: $36,000,000 · cadence: annual · scales with project: yes · community seat: no
Community Betterment Fund: $400,000 a year per data center building from the January 1 after occupancy, for 15 years or $6M per building, whichever comes first, capped at $36M in total. KCRG reported $350,000 per building in July 2026; the executed agreement says $400,000, as The Gazette reported at approval.
A strong version: Incentives come back if the facility stops operating, not only if a jobs number is missed
triggers: jobs, investment · proportional: yes
City agreement: the exemption ceases prospectively if a condition precedent lapses after a 60-day cure, and the franchise-fee rebate is skipped for any year of job noncompliance; meeting the $576M minimum investment is a condition precedent. State contract: IEDA may revoke or reduce incentives after a 30-day cure, with layoffs or Iowa closures among the default triggers, and Exhibit B-1 Section 4 requires repayment of tax incentives received in the same proportion as any job or investment shortfall, collected by the City. No trigger tied to the facility ceasing operation after the job-maintenance window closes March 31, 2033.
A strong version: A bond, escrow, or letter of credit that pays for teardown and site restoration if the operator walks
Not addressed in the agreement.
instrument: none
No decommissioning term.
A strong version: The operator pays for its own interconnection and carries a minimum bill that survives it leaving
Not addressed in the agreement.
interconnect paid by: unknown · governed by: Alliant Energy Individual Customer Rate for customers using at least 25 MW; terms not public
The agreement is silent on electric costs. In April 2024 The Gazette reported an ITC Midwest interconnection application for up to 300 MW of new load from facilities at or near Big Cedar, which Alliant said was uncertain; the project's own load is not stated in any document found. Alliant's data center page says data centers pay for their own equipment and power under a specific rate with long-term commitments, but that is a utility statement, not a deal term.
A strong version: A stated cap or closed-loop cooling, plus public reporting
reporting: no · cooling: unknown
The City commits to reserve water and sewer capacity for the property per Exhibit 7.3, which is not in the posted PDF (only Exhibits 1.1, 3.1, 3.4, 5.5, and 11.3 are attached). A gray-water credit of $1.30 per hundred cubic feet, escalating 2.5 percent a year and capped at 57 percent of the sewer rate, applies to separately piped and metered cooling discharge between 0.1 and 1.5 million gallons a day, with monthly reporting only if the credit is claimed. In April 2024 the City's utilities engineering manager said capacity was being reserved in case all five potential buildings are built, and press estimates ranged from 200,000 to 7.8 million gallons a day. Google gave $1.3M toward a $12M to $14M aquifer storage well; the utilities director declined to share Google's estimated usage.
A strong version: A numeric limit measured at the nearest residence or property line
Not addressed in the agreement.
No noise term.
A strong version: Binding job commitments with a consequence, not projections
permanent: 31 · local hire: no · prevailing wage: no · enforceable: yes
31 full-time jobs by March 31, 2031, maintained through March 31, 2033, at a qualifying laborshed wage threshold of $31.44 an hour; Exhibit B-1 Section 3.2 requires at least 120 percent of that threshold by the completion date. Enforceable through the state contract's proportional repayment and the city exemption and rebate conditions. No local hire and no prevailing wage.
A strong version: Local subcontracting goals and haul-route road repair paid by the operator
Not addressed in the agreement.
local subcontracting: no · road repair: no
No local contracting or road repair term. A 75 percent rebate of electric franchise fees for 20 years per data center runs the other direction. The company pays a pro rata share only if a later data center needs water or sewer capacity beyond what the City committed.
A strong version: No NDA, the agreement is public, and an independent audit on a schedule
NDA: yes · agreement public: yes · dashboard: no · audit: none · independent: no
The City signed a nondisclosure agreement with Google early in the process, signed by the city manager and the utilities business manager; KCRG obtained it by records request in 2025 and reported on it in July 2026. The company was unnamed when the council approved the deal. The agreement has a confidentiality clause subject to open records law and requires the parties to record a memorandum of agreement. Council member David Maier said little had been shared on water, energy, or utility rate impacts.
A strong version: A but-for test before any abatement, with the forgone revenue stated
abatement: 70% · years: 20 · PILOT: no · forgone: $56,000,000 · but-for test: no
70 percent exemption on value added by the improvements for 20 years under Iowa's High Quality Jobs program, starting the January 1 after the first building completes, plus a 75 percent franchise-fee rebate. If IEDA had not approved, the City agreed to pursue a comparable 70 percent TIF rebate. The state contract estimates the local property tax exemption at $56,000,000 and awarded no state tax credits. No but-for analysis was found.
The company was not named when the council voted; the agreement was with Heaviside LLC. source
The City had signed an NDA with Google before the project was public, disclosed through a records request. source
Water-use estimates ranged from 200,000 to 7.8 million gallons a day at the time of approval. source