QTS
QTS Cedar Rapids campus at Big Cedar Industrial Center, 76th Avenue SW
development agreement, signed, signed 2025-02-05
Operator: QTS
Developer: QTS Cedar Rapids I, LLC
Scale: 560 acres · 1,750,000,000 USD
560 acres is the press figure (The Gazette, January 2025); Exhibit 1.1 of the executed agreement states 331.22 acres for the West Development Property and no acreage for the East. $1.75 billion is the anticipated total across up to seven phases per coverage of the December 2025 amended agreement; the January 2025 agreement requires a $250 million Minimum Investment per phase, and press at approval said $750 million. No MW figure in any document found.
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: $18,000,000 · cadence: annual · scales with project: yes · community seat: no
Community Betterment Fund: $300,000 a year per phase for up to 20 years, starting the fiscal year the City first receives tax increment from that phase, capped at $6M per phase and $18M total. The developer may prepay using an 8 percent net present value discount, and may withhold payment up to the amount of any grant or rebate the City fails to appropriate.
A strong version: Incentives come back if the facility stops operating, not only if a jobs number is missed
triggers: jobs · proportional: yes
Forward-looking only. If, on or after the first anniversary of a phase's completion, fewer than 15 full-time employees are maintained there, the City skips the next grant and the next franchise-fee rebate for that phase. A job shortfall is expressly not an event of default. No repayment of grants already paid, and no trigger tied to the facility ceasing operation. Failure to build the initial phases is an event of default allowing suspension, termination, or withholding of certificates after a 60-day cure.
Softening languageA job shortfall is expressly not an event of default. The only consequence is skipping the next grant, and nothing already paid comes back.
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 in the agreement.
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 large-customer rate; terms not public
The agreement is silent on electric costs and references a separate electrical service agreement only as a permitted excuse for delay. Alliant's data center page says a specific data center rate ensures they pay for their own equipment and power with long-term financial commitments, and QTS signed the White House Ratepayer Protection Pledge. None of that is in the city deal.
A strong version: A stated cap or closed-loop cooling, plus public reporting
Not addressed in the agreement.
reporting: no · cooling: closed loop
The agreement has no cap and no reporting. QTS states it uses closed-loop air-cooled chillers and consumes no water for cooling once operational. The City builds water main and sewer to the property and paves 76th Avenue at no additional cost to the company beyond ordinary taxes and fees; press reported QTS pays about $13M in sewer and $3.8M in water connection costs. Linn County sought a $20,000 penalty from a dewatering subcontractor for up to 40 unpermitted dewatering wells at the site in 2025.
A strong version: A numeric limit measured at the nearest residence or property line
Not addressed in the agreement.
No noise term in the agreement.
A strong version: Binding job commitments with a consequence, not projections
permanent: 15 · construction: 1200 · local hire: no · prevailing wage: no · enforceable: yes
At least 15 full-time employees per completed phase, counting contractors, tenants, and affiliates, where full time means 30 hours a week or 1,560 hours a year at or above the IEDA laborshed wage. Certified annually each November 1 without names. The only consequence is a skipped grant or rebate. Construction job figures are projections: over 1,200 per the December 2025 amendment coverage, 500 or more per the January 2025 coverage.
A strong version: Local subcontracting goals and haul-route road repair paid by the operator
local subcontracting: no · road repair: yes · infrastructure: $117,099.9
A separate Linn County road use agreement, approved by the Board of Supervisors on October 27, 2025, carries the strongest haul-route terms in this benchmark: $117,099.90 for damage already attributed to the developer before the agreement, roughly 2.0 miles of Maple Grove Road and 0.6 miles of Linn-Johnson Road rebuilt at the developer's sole cost, and a $2,000,000 payment and performance bond naming the county as beneficiary, posted within ten business days and held until hauling ends and the roads pass inspection. The county may draw on the bond for non-visual damage at $3.86 per trip based on quarry load counts. The county keeps its ordinary maintenance duty. Still no local-subcontracting requirement. The 75 percent franchise fee rebate in the development agreement runs the other direction.
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 nondisclosure agreements with QTS and Google early in the process, before the projects were public, signed by the city manager and the utilities business manager. KCRG obtained them by records request in 2025 and reported on them in July 2026. The agreement has a confidentiality clause subject to Iowa open records law. The executed agreement is posted online. No dashboard and no audit; an annual employment certification and one annual meeting between City and developer.
A strong version: A but-for test before any abatement, with the forgone revenue stated
abatement: 70% · years: 20 · PILOT: no · forgone: $529,000,000 · but-for test: no
Up to twenty annual economic development grants per phase equal to 70 percent of the tax increment from that phase, paid from that phase's TIF only, subject to annual appropriation, and capped at $1 billion in aggregate. The owners may not seek other exemptions or convert to tax-exempt or centrally assessed status. City estimate: about $1B in total property tax, about $529M rebated. No but-for analysis was found.
The City signed NDAs with both data center companies, disclosed only through a records request; the mayor denied kickback accusations. source
The amended agreement passed on December 2, 2025 with no comments or objections heard or filed at the public hearing. source
Energy advocates, including the Iowa Sierra Club's legal chair, raised unanswered questions on water and power impacts. source