AI cloud company Nebius Inc. said economic incentives were a "key factor" in choosing Birmingham's Oxmoor Valley for its new data center, despite Mayor Randall Woodfin claiming no incentives were offered.
The project has been the subject of controversy and lawsuits since Nebius submitted permitting requests in January. Following public pushback, the City imposed a six-month moratorium on future data center projects in March. The moratorium was replaced by an updated regulation ordinance that went into effect on June 13.
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The pause did not affect Nebius since it filed before the ordinance passed. However, as a result of the new regulations, Nebius withdrew an additional permitting request to adjust the design of one of its buildings at the former Regions Lakeshore Operations Center site.
In an article published on April 28, Woodfin reportedly told AL(dot)com that Nebius has not received any incentives for locating to Birmingham.
"[Woodfin] also said that Nebius hasn't asked the city for any incentives, and the city hasn't provided any," the left-wing outlet reported.
However, on Wednesday, a source with knowledge of the arrangement confirmed that Birmingham's Industrial Development Board has granted Nebius a 65% tax abatement on all noneducational ad valorem taxes for 30 years and an 80% abatement on all construction-related transaction taxes.
"Economic incentives were a key factor in our decision to invest in Birmingham and, as a result of the Industrial Development Board's review and decision, our multi-billion-dollar investment is projected to generate $87 million annually in tax revenue for the state, city, county and schools," Nebius spokesman John Sutter told 1819 News when asked about the deal. "As construction advances, we're focused on building responsibly, generating benefits for our community, and earning trust through our actions."
It's unclear when the incentives were approved. Attempts to contact Woodfin through the City's Public Information Office were unsuccessful, and emails to board members requesting comment were not returned.
"[Transparency is] very critical for us as leaders in the community and as an administration, how we govern," Woodfin also said in the April 28 article. "We govern with transparency, we govern with facts, we govern with data, we govern with oversharing information."
Construction on the data center is expected to last through 2028.
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