# Google data center poises West Memphis for boom; project bond issue totals could reach $60 billion (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette) > *Tier-3 news archive. Bill Bowden's long-form Democrat-Gazette report on the Google ("Project Pyramid") data center in West Memphis: the $60 billion maximum Act 9 bond authorization, the PILOT abatement, water and power arrangements, the Musk/Tesla prehistory, and the second West Memphis megasite. Direct download succeeded despite the expected Cloudflare block; the original HTML (containing the full article text) is preserved alongside this extract. A sister copy runs on nwaonline.com.* ## Source metadata - **Publisher:** Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (arkansasonline.com); sister copy at nwaonline.com - **URL:** https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2026/jun/04/google-data-center-poises-west-memphis-for-boom/ - **Byline:** Bill Bowden - **Published:** 2026-06-04T10:09:00-05:00; updated 2026-06-06T20:04:00-05:00 ("Updated June 6, 2026 at 8:04 p.m.") - **Archived:** 2026-06-11, by Invoke-WebRequest (HTTP 200, 161,654 bytes) - **Wayback snapshot:** http://web.archive.org/web/20260608020634/... — pre-existing snapshot found via the availability API (2026-06-08 UTC, post-dating the 06-06 update); no new SPN submitted. ## Extract WEST MEMPHIS — This east Arkansas city might seem like an unlikely place for Elon Musk and Google to be scrambling for a data center site. But they were, until Musk backed out. "As soon as Musk went, Google stepped in right behind him," said Ward Wimbish, the economic development director for West Memphis. "We said, 'We've got a project ahead of you. They have an option on the land.' And they said, 'Well, let us know if it doesn't work out.'" Google last fall announced a $4 billion investment in its West Memphis data center through 2027, but the final total could amount to much more. The West Memphis City Council approved a maximum of $60 billion in industrial development bonds over 30 years — $10 billion for the real estate and $50 billion for the personal property, which would include computer equipment. Construction began in October on the first of a possible five buildings at the site in the city's industrial park south of town. "Current development plans are confirmed for two buildings with the potential to expand," said Laurel Brown, public affairs manager for Google. "Initial build-out of these types of projects typically take between 18 to 24 months to complete." [...] She said hundreds of people will be employed in full-time operational roles at the data center in addition to thousands working on construction. "Google was not the first entity that we spoke to about that property and this concept, but the best thing that ever happened to West Memphis was us making a deal with Google," said Bob Atkins, general manager of West Memphis Utilities, which provides electricity, water and sewer service to the city. "From the very beginning of our negotiations with Google, their desire has been to partner with the community. ... A lot of folks say that, but Google has really stepped up." That community partnership includes a $25 million energy efficiency fund to help people with electric bills and weatherization of their homes. [...] Atkins said Musk was going to build a Tesla data center in West Memphis. He pulled out of the deal in 2024. "The reason they told us that they stopped talking to us was that all of the servers that they were going to use at the data center they needed for the xAI computer in Memphis," Atkins said. He was referring to Colossus 1, one of the world's largest supercomputers. Musk's artificial intelligence company, xAI, built Colossus 1 in the later half of 2024 in Memphis. [...] Meanwhile, in November 2024, Groot LLC, a subsidiary of Google, spent $16.5 million to buy 1,117 acres of agricultural land in West Memphis from Bollinger Brothers Inc., according to documents from the Crittenden County assessor's office. A public notice from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers indicated the total acreage of the data center site is 1,178. [...] **GAMBLING ON DATA CENTERS** Wimbish said West Memphis is the only Arkansas city with two megasites, meaning more than 1,000 acres of land that qualifies for an industrial project. One is the Google site. The other is 1,300 combined acres (three property owners) at the intersection of Interstate 40 and Arkansas 147 at the Lehi exit. "Right now, we have actually five companies looking at this," said Wimbish. "Two of them are data centers and three of them are manufacturers." [...] Data centers are good for the grid, according to Entergy, which is providing high-voltage power to the West Memphis data center. "When large data centers move to Entergy's service area, all customers that are connected to the grid benefit," according to the investor-owned public utility. "In fact, every new large customer added to the system helps pick up more of the grid maintenance improvement costs that existing customers would otherwise have to bear alone, and at a larger share than residential and small business customers." McClendon said the Google data center planned for his city won't use gas turbines. The facility will eventually use "gray water," meaning treated wastewater, and the company will pay for that, Atkins said. **PUSHBACK?** [...] Some Entergy Arkansas customers voiced concerns about the West Memphis data center at a Nov. 17 meeting of the Arkansas Public Service Commission in Little Rock and Tuesday at a meeting of the Little Rock Board of Directors. But in West Memphis, where residents get their electricity from the city instead of Entergy, there hasn't been much, if any, opposition. "It's pretty much universally welcomed here," Foister said. "We don't have a lot of pushback like they do in Memphis and other places across the country. ... If utility costs go up and all that, maybe, but it's pretty much open arms around here for them here. ... There's no grumblings. There's no picketing. There's nobody saying, 'What's going to happen here?' They're pretty much excited about having that level of business here, that brand here." [...] **PILOT** Wimbish said the only incentive Google sought was a PILOT agreement, "which everybody asks for." PILOT stands for payments in lieu of taxes. Under Arkansas' Act 9 of 1960, and subsequent changes to that law, a PILOT agreement gives companies a 65% abatement on personal and real estate property taxes for the set term of a bond issue, in this case 30 years. The company buys the land, deeds it back to the city, which leases it to the company for the duration of the agreement, and the company handles the financial obligations. "This isn't the first time we've done a PILOT," McClendon said. He said West Memphis also did a PILOT for Bosch Tools. That one was considerably smaller, however, with a maximum bond issue of $17 million, according to a resolution on the city's website. "It really doesn't cost us anything," Wimbish said. "The assumption is the jobs more than make up whatever property tax we aren't getting. The reason we gave it is we saw value in their employees hopefully living in West Memphis, buying a house, shopping, sales taxes." [...] At $4 billion, it appears the West Memphis data center would be the second-largest investment in Arkansas history. Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has said the $6 billion AVAIO data center planned for Pulaski County is "the largest investment in Arkansas history." Google is also planning a $1 billion data center at the Port of Little Rock. **LAND VALUE** Agricultural land in West Memphis is valued at $1,040 an acre, which is below market value, said Kimberly Hollowell, the Crittenden County assessor. With Google constructing a data center on agricultural land in West Memphis, that property will be rezoned as commercial this year, she said. That means the value of the real estate will increase, and property taxes will bring in more money for the West Memphis School District in particular, which gets 80% of the 45.3 mills collected in the city. Superintendent Foister said he's looking forward to the additional tax revenue, but he's not sure how much will be coming and when, based on Google's construction schedule and property appraisals. He said Google plans to partner with the school on other endeavors. [...] *The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Community Journalism Project helped cover the cost of producing this story. The Democrat-Gazette maintains full editorial control over this article and all other coverage.* ## Notes - Tier: 3 — established news outlet (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette). - Anchors: West Memphis City Council approved a **maximum of $60 billion** in industrial development bonds over 30 years ($10B real estate + $50B personal property including computer equipment) — the PILOT under **Act 9 of 1960** carries a **65% abatement**; Google's announced $4B investment through 2027 "could amount to much more"; Laurel Brown confirmed plans for two buildings (first of a possible five under construction), 18–24-month initial build-out, construction began in October [2025], hundreds of full-time operational roles; Bob Atkins (GM, West Memphis Utilities): the facility "will eventually use 'gray water'" (treated wastewater) and Google will pay; Mayor Marco McClendon: no gas turbines; Assessor Kimberly Hollowell: agricultural land valued at $1,040/acre, to be "rezoned as commercial this year" [2026]; West Memphis School District gets 80% of the 45.3 mills; Musk/Tesla pulled out in 2024 (servers needed for xAI Colossus 1 in Memphis) and Google stepped in; second megasite of 1,300 combined acres at I-40/AR-147 (Lehi exit) with five companies looking, two of them data centers; Superintendent Eric Foister: "pretty much universally welcomed here." - **Phrasing nuances:** (1) the headline/body says the Council "approved a maximum of $60 billion in industrial development bonds"; the Act 9 statutory basis appears later in the PILOT section — the article does not use the phrase "Act 9 bonds" in the approval sentence itself. (2) The assessor is quoted saying the land "will be rezoned as commercial this year" — the article's word is "rezoned," not "reclassified." (3) Construction "began in October" — the year 2025 is inferred from the 2026-06 publication and the October 2025 groundbreaking reported elsewhere; this article's text says only "in October." - Note on titles: the saved page's `<title>` reads "...project bond issue totals could reach $60 billion" (the headline was apparently softened from "totals $60 billion" at some point; the archived original carries the "could reach" version). - Cited by: (populated by wiki pages that reference this archive)