We’re willing to invest in the community…
“When we come into a community, we invest in the community,” Microsoft’s Andrew Weiss told the court after the vote, saying the company plans to get involved in San Antonio philanthropy.
Yeah, I guess it’s cheaper than actually having to pay taxes.
“This is a game changer for us,” said Mario Hernandez, president of the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation, which has worked on the project for almost a year. “This will really put us on the map — the Microsoft name alone.”
He probably has a point here. I’ve seen this story picked up by European and Asian newspapers not to mention every newspaper with a business section in the U.S. I don’t know if $36 million dollars could buy a comparable media campaign for San Antonio.
And here’s the real winner in all of this:
Microsoft plans to begin construction on the project as soon as it finishes its contract with the city and county and closes on the land. That deal is expected to close within six weeks, said Charles Martin Wender, developer of Westover Hills. He declined to reveal the price.
Hopefully the legislature will pass a bill that would require the value of commercial real estate transactions to be made public. That way business can start paying their fair share of these economic incentives.
Technorati Tags: Microsoft Data Center, San Antonio Data Center, Economic incentives, Charles Wender, Andrew Weiss
Filed under: Andrew Weiss, Carles Wender, Microsoft, San Antonio, Uncategorized, data center, economic incentives
