When Facebook turned down New Albany the first time for an investment, Jennifer Chrysler took it like a breakup.

“I ate more ice cream that weekend than I have ever eaten in my life,” the city’s director of community development said. “I was crying on the phone and they were going, ‘It’s not you, it’s us.’

“I didn’t know what to do,” she said. “We’d been working through the project for nine months.”

However, as Chrysler recounted at a recent economic incentives conference hosted by Vorys Sater Seymour and Pease LLP, that “rejection” paved the way for Facebook to come back and commit to building a $750 million data center in New Albany.

And that, in turn, led to two other Silicon Valley wins: An expanded data center complex from Amazon and, most recently, a $600 million data center from Google.

“Over the course of that loss, we stated in touch with (Facebook),” Chrysler said. “We never want to hear that, but we had a tough conversation about what made us losers, and some of it was how our team functions, some off it was just beyond our control.”

New Albany officials even paid Facebook a visit during a California trip and, a few months after that, the phone rang. Facebook had a new set of requirements and the consultant team thought New Albany could make the cut if it tried again. The city did, and the company quickly settled on an investment.

Building those relationships was key, Chrysler said, because consultants move from company to company, project to project. In fact, the same consultant she had worked with to land Facebook was the person she had worked with on the Amazon deal and the Google investment.

“Site selection teams bounce around from company to company,” she said. “It’s a very small world in Silicon Valley and building the relationship got us on the shortlist.”

Aaron Berke, a Vorys partner, said that has become more typical in economic development deals.

“The bottom line often isn’t the incentive,” he said. “It’s how the economic development team delivers on other things.”

Silicon Valley’s economic development process is by now well known. As has been the case with Amazon’s HQ2 and other deals, New Albany worked with consultants using fake names and keeping their employers a secret.

By Tristan Navera
Columbus Business First

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A real-estate company is planning to build a 300,000-square-foot facility in the New Albany International Business Park to attract companies in the manufacturing, production and logistics industries, according to a Feb. 19 New Albany City Council legislative report.

The building will be within Licking Heights Local School District boundaries, and it will be north of state Route 161, on the north side of Innovation Campus Way between Harrison and Mink roads, said Jennifer Chrysler, New Albany’s community-development director.

VanTrust Real Estate plans to close on the property, owned by the New Albany Co., in early March and break ground in May, said Bill Baumgardner, VanTrust vice president, development.

The building will be finished in October or November and could take about a year from completion to fill with tenants, he said.

The investment for the shell building construction, site acquisition and site work is estimated to be $10.5 million, Baumgardner said.

The building will be designed to accommodate as many as four tenants and would create a minimum of 150 full-time jobs, with an aggregate annual payroll of at least $5 million to $9 million within three years of completion of the project, according to the legislative report.

The project is estimated to generate a base amount of $100,000 to $180,000 in annual income-tax revenue and a minimum of $32,250 in New Albany East Community Authority charges for the community, according to the report.

The New Albany East Community Authority is a community authority district that charges a special assessment for municipal infrastructure projects that have a public purpose, Chrysler said.

Approximately $30,000 to $54,000 annually would be directed toward infrastructure, approximately $26,000 to $46,000 annually would be paid to Columbus, approximately $22,000 to $40,000 annually would paid to the Licking Heights and approximately $22,000 to $40,000 would be deposited into the city’s general fund, according to the legislative report.

In this portion of the business park the city utilizes the first 30 percent of the income-tax revenue collected to repay infrastructure debt; 26 percent is paid to Columbus per the cities’ revenue-sharing agreement for the extension of water and sewer services in this area; and the remaining income-tax revenue is divided evenly between the city and Licking Heights, according to the report.

City Council on Feb. 19 approved a 100 percent real-property-tax abatement for 15 years at the site.

Because VanTrust still is in the design stage for the building and the building doesn’t have tenants the, city doesn’t have a value for how much the incentive ultimately would be worth, Chrysler said.

Baumgardner said New Albany’s tax incentives and the city’s ability to move quickly through the project-approval process made moving to New Albany attractive.

Similarly, the city’s master-planned business park and the tenants there also made the city a smart place to locate, he said.

New Albany leaders are excited for the opportunity to expand the city’s manufacturing base, Chrysler said.

“It’s a manufacturing opportunity to increase that industry cluster with speculative space, which will allow us to respond to unique needs in the market,” she said.

By Sarah Sole
From This Week News

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NEW ALBANY, Ohio (AP) — Google says it plans to build a $600 million data center in an Ohio city, part of $13 billion in planned investments this year.

Last December, Google affiliate Montauk Innovations said it was considering New Albany for a data center project in the New Albany International Business Park. The Columbus Dispatch reports Google did not elaborate further on its plans for the site in its announcement Wednesday.

New Albany spokesman Scott McAfee says the city is excited about Google’s investment in central Ohio.

Google’s project is the latest in what has been a string of data centers for central Ohio.

Information from The Columbus Dispatch.

Google to spend $13B on U.S. expansion, with growth focused outside Silicon Valley, including in Central Ohio

(Columbus Business First) — Google will spend more than $13 billion on U.S. data centers and offices in 2019, CEO Sundar Pichai said Wednesday, marking “the second year in a row we’ll be growing faster outside of the Bay Area than in it.”

“These new investments will give us the capacity to hire tens of thousands of employees, and enable the creation of more than 10,000 new construction jobs in Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Texas, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Virginia,” Pichai wrote in a blog post.

The company on Wednesday confirmed earlier reporting by Columbus Business First that it is building a data center in New Albany.

With the new investment, Google will be in 24 out of 50 states, Pichai said. The company’s workforce in Virginia and Georgia will double, he said, with new data center and office development there.

Google is also growing in New York, Southern California, Chicago, Nevada, Wisconsin and elsewhere, he said, detailing the company’s developments in those areas.

While Pichai emphasized that the company, a division of Alphabet Inc., is accelerating outside Silicon Valley, the search giant is also growing rapidly in the Bay Area, including with new campus developments around its Mountain View headquarters and nearby Sunnyvale, a planned urban campus near downtown San Jose and big leases in downtown San Francisco.

Pichai wrote:

“One year ago this week, I was in Montgomery County, Tennessee to break ground for a new data center in Clarksville. It was clear from the excitement at the event that the jobs and economic investment meant a great deal to the community. I’ve seen that same optimism in communities around the country that are helping to power our digital economy. And I’m proud to say that our U.S. footprint is growing rapidly: In the last year, we’ve hired more than 10,000 people in the U.S. and made over $9 billion in investments. Our expansion across the U.S. has been crucial to finding great new talent, improving the services that people use every day, and investing in our business.

Today we’re announcing over $13 billion in investments throughout 2019 in data centers and offices across the U.S., with major expansions in 14 states. These new investments will give us the capacity to hire tens of thousands of employees, and enable the creation of more than 10,000 new construction jobs in Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Texas, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Virginia. With this new investment, Google will now have a home in 24 total states, including data centers in 13 communities. 2019 marks the second year in a row we’ll be growing faster outside of the Bay Area than in it.

This growth will allow us to invest in the communities where we operate, while we improve the products and services that help billions of people and businesses globally. Our new data center investments, in particular, will enhance our ability to provide the fastest and most reliable services for all our users and customers. As part of our commitment to our 100 percent renewable energy purchasing, we’re also making significant renewable energy investments in the U.S. as we grow. Our data centers make a significant economic contribution to local communities, as do the associated $5 billion in energy investments that our energy purchasing supports.”

By Marlize van Romburgh
From Columbus Business First

Google to go ahead with $600 million data center in New Albany

NEW ALBANY, Ohio (Columbus Dispatch) — Google confirmed Wednesday that it plans to develop a $600-million data center in New Albany this year.

The project is among $13 billion in investments in data centers and offices that Google plans this year, the company said.

Last December, Google affiliate Montauk Innovations said it was considering New Albany for the project in the New Albany International Business Park. Property records show the company has bought 447 acres in Franklin and Licking counties for $54.5 million.

Google would not elaborate Wednesday on its plans for the site beyond the blog post released by Google CEO Sundar Pichai that notes an Ohio investment.

New Albany spokesman Scott McAfee confirmed that the Ohio location is the data center proposed for the west side of Beech Road, south of the state Route 161 interchange.

“We’re very excited about their investment in New Albany, in the central Ohio region and the state of Ohio,” McAfee said.

By Mark Williams
From The Columbus Dispatch

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Dear Friends and Neighbors:
As 2018 comes to a close there’s certainly a lot to celebrate. This year brought several new accolades for New Albany, including being named a Best Hometown by Ohio Magazine and landing at #8 on USA Today’s Best Cities to Live list, the highest ranking of any city in Ohio. This is an affirmation not only of the quality of community all of you have built but of the sense of community that exists in New Albany.

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Dear Friends and Neighbors:
While spring may have taken its time arriving this year, nothing has slowed New Albany’s momentum in 2018. From the business park to the town center, and from our neighborhoods to our parks, New Albany continues to thrive thanks to the passionate involvement of those who live and work here.

View & Download the Full Letter »

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The Red Roof Inn chain considered moving out of state, but decided instead to relocate its headquarters to New Albany.

The hotel chain announced Wednesday it is moving its corporate office and 150 employees to the Water’s Edge III building. The company has signed an eight-and-a-half-year lease for all 43,000 square feet of the building, located at 7815 Walton Parkway.

It plans on moving in mid-May from its current headquarters in two buildings on South Front Street in the Brewery District. It has been there for 10 years.

The company said the new location would allow it to grow its office staff, update technology and consolidate two leases into one. The two offices the company is in total 28,000 square feet.

The company expects to add 35 employees in the new location, which it says offers quicker access to the airport and additional parking.

“We’re going to see increased visibility for the brand,” Andrew Alexander, president of Red Roof Inns Inc., told me.

The company had considered moving to Texas, too. Houston-based Westmont Hospitality Group acquired the Columbus economy chain in a joint venture in 2011.

“We looked at many locations Downtown, as well as some of the nearby suburban locations in Franklin County, and the opportunity in New Albany was really a unique one for us.”

The chain has grown significantly in the past few years, in part because it has launched brands that target new market segments. In three years, it has grown its footprint by 41 percent, reaching 539 locations worldwide, with an additional 30 in the works. The company has 3,000 employees, according to its website.

“We’re really settling our roots in Columbus and expect to grow our footprint across the world as we evolve the brand,” Alexander said. “That Red Roof master brand supports the extension.”

Red Roof Inn has secured deals to open properties in Brazil, Japan and Thailand, extending its reach. By the end of 2018, it expects to have 600 properties across all of its sub brands. Among these, the Red Roof Plus+ brand and The Red Collection, a new mid-scale concept, will open in Chicago this year.

“Growing at 75 units a year is achievable, but something we have achieved for several years and we expect to continue at that rate,” Alexander said. “As we do that, we incrementally add more employees. We certainly have the room to grow at the new site.”

Red Roof Inn moved to Columbus a decade ago from its long-time home in Hilliard.

The new building was home to Columbia Pipeline Group, but was not fully occupied.

“The demand in New Albany has been a good sign and it’s supported continued development,” said Bill Ebbing, president of New Albany Co.

By Tristan Navera
From Columbus Business First

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A new office building is in the works in New Albany as available commercial office space remains nearly totally leased.

The city approved a final development plan last week for a two-story, 44,250-square-foot building next to the Walton Office building at 8100 Walton Parkway. The New Albany Company and Daimler Group will work together to develop the building, which will be a sister building to the 57,000-square-foot office building, which is next door and already fully leased.

The city’s office space stands at 98 percent occupancy, said Jennifer Chrysler, director of community development for New Albany. New Albany-based EMH&T is listed as project engineer on this latest build.

“It seems like the Class A space just doesn’t stay on the market long,” Chrysler said. “It’s great to have full occupancy, but not great when you can’t respond to new leads.”

The buildings are a part of the Water’s Edge East development and are the continuation of a multi-tenant speculative commercial development for New Albany. They seek tenants looking for at least 5,000 square feet of space.

The developers expect to start construction in the next few weeks for a projected completion within nine months, Chrysler said.

New Albany has benefitted from a number of big office moves recently, including insurer Aetna Inc., which just announced a plan to open a second New Albany office with 350 new jobs at the New Albany Center of Technology building, adding to its 1,080 workers who already work in the city.

PharmaForce Inc. recently announced plans to add new employees at its New Albany office, and the city also just landed the headquarters of developer Wallick Communities.

Other office moves across town also have been quickly backfilled, Chrysler said.

Meantime, Market and Main, another Daimler and New Albany Co. joint venture, has been filling out retail spaces and the apartments there should be finished by summer.

And the city just opened its Innovation Campus Way road, opening up 170 acres of land for development. About 35 acres of land zoned for offices with freeway visibility sits near the Walton development, too, Chrysler said.

“The way the market is going, I don’t think it will be too terribly long before we see more development,” Chrysler said.

By Tristan Navera
From Columbus Business First

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The New Albany International Business Park will add 70 jobs, thanks to an expansion of one of its manufacturing businesses.

PharmaForce Inc., a privately held pharmaceutical research-and-development and manufacturing company, will expand at 6610 New Albany Road East in the business park.

The company also will add eight jobs at its Hilliard facility at 4150 Lyman Drive, said communications manager Terri Ponce.

The company has 196 and 102 employees at the New Albany and Hilliard facilities, respectively, Ponce said.

PharmaForce will begin hiring for packaging, mechanical, sterile, quality-assurance and validation jobs in the first three months of 2018 for New Albany and in late 2018 for Hilliard, according to a press release.

The expansion will include a 140,000-square-foot addition to the New Albany facility to expand manufacturing and warehouse operations, according to the release.

The company plans to reconfigure and remodel a portion of the Hilliard warehouse and production space and to expand by 1,800 square feet.

The expansion will allow PharmaForce to be a more competitive player in its market, Ponce said.

“This made the most sense,” she said.

The 70 jobs are important to New Albany because more than 80 percent of revenue for city services is drawn from income taxes, according to New Albany city spokesman Scott McAfee. About 15,000 people are employed in the business park, he said.

The New Albany PharmaForce facility opened in 2012 after construction began in 2008, said Jennifer Chrysler, New Albany’s community-development director.

At that time, the city awarded PharmaForce a 100 percent property-tax abatement for 15 years for each phase of its project, she said.

The site PharmaForce purchased was expected to accommodate three to four phases of growth, Chrysler said.

“They’ve been a fantastic community partner, as well, throughout the years,” Chrysler said.

PharmaForce was acquired by Luitpold Pharmaceuticals Inc. in 2009. Luitpold is a New York-based company of Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd., which is headquartered in Tokyo.

By Sarah Sole
From This Week Community News

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Health insurer Aetna plans to add 350 jobs in central Ohio as part of an expansion in New Albany.

The Ohio Tax Credit Authority on Monday approved state tax incentives for the project, which includes retaining 957 jobs in New Albany.

The project was one of six to be approved; they are to create 656 jobs statewide and retain 1,365 others. The projects are to result in new payroll of $35 million and investments of $30 million.

Aetna declined to comment on the project in New Albany, saying a formal announcement is expected next week.

Aetna plans a new office in New Albany to accommodate growth, according to the state.

The new jobs will have an annual payroll of $14.2 million. The tax incentives have an estimated value of $1.4 million.

Also receiving approval for state tax incentives was a plan by Central Machinery to expand in Marion.

The project is projected to add 55 jobs, with hiring expected to start this summer. The company has 54 workers.

The family-owned manufacturer performs laser cutting, robotic and manual welding, stamping and other work.

It plans a 30,000-square-foot expansion of the facility at 1339 E. Fairground Road and will invest $8.6 million.

“The strong workforce in Marion and in the Columbus region as a whole has helped fuel our company’s ongoing growth,” said Rod Galbreath, the company’s president, in a statement. “This investment will enable us to upgrade our capabilities and provide the much-needed expansion for this phase of our growth.”

The tax credits have an estimated value of $325,000.

By Mark Williams
From The Columbus Dispatch

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Facebook has chosen to build a new data center in the New Albany International Business Park. The company plans to invest $750 million to construct a 970,000-square-foot facility powered by 100 percent renewable energy. The project, the company’s tenth data center, will be situated on a 345-acre site located on the east side of Beech Road south of the State Route 161 interchange. It is slated to begin delivering services in 2019.

“We’re thrilled to have found a home in Ohio and to embark on this exciting partnership,” said Erin Egan, Facebook’s VP of US Public Policy. “Everything here has been as advertised — from a committed set of community partners and strong pool of talent to the opportunity to power our facility with 100 percent renewable energy. The Buckeye State is a great place to do business.”

A 2017 U.S. Chamber of Commerce data center study estimates that construction of a data center of this magnitude will employ up to 1,688 local workers, provide up to $77.7 million in wages for those workers and produce $243.5 million in output along the local economy’s supply chain during construction. The same study estimates an annual injection of $32.5 million into the economy once construction is completed. After completion, Facebook expects to employ approximately 100 workers at its New Albany data center.

The close coordination between JobsOhio and local, regional and state agencies was aconsideration in Facebook’s decision. “I am pleased that Facebook has selected Ohio for its newest data center and grateful to our JobsOhio economic development team and their partners for helping to make this happen,” said Governor John R. Kasich. “This is a $750 million investment in technologies and jobs of the future that will further diversify our state’s economy, and, with other leading-edge innovators locating here, help put Ohio front and center in the Knowledge Belt of the 21st century.” JobsOhio President and Chief Investment Officer John Minor added, “Along with New Albany and Columbus 2020, we welcome Facebook to Ohio. The attraction of Facebook brings another high-performing technology company to this state and strengthens the IT sector, talent and innovation in Ohio.”

New Albany landed its largest data center to date while competing with cities across the country. The center itself will be one of the most advanced, energy-efficient data centers in the world, featuring Facebook’s latest Open Compute Project hardware designs. It will be cooled using outdoor air and direct evaporative cooling systems resulting in world-class levels of energy and water efficiency.

Facebook was also attracted to the New Albany International Business Park’s robust high-speed fiber optic network, triple feed electric capabilities and its technology- and shovel-ready sites, notes New Albany Mayor Sloan Spalding. “Our commitment to public-private partnerships and collaboration has enabled us to streamline the planning process and accommodate businesses’ need for speed to compete in the global market,” says Spalding. “That success enables us to provide a high level of service and amenities for residents and generates substantial revenue for our schools.”

“New Albany city leaders continue to show great foresight by investing in public infrastructure and technology that enable the community to attract mission critical facilities like Facebook,” said William Ebbing, president of New Albany Company. “We are very proud of the collaboration between city leaders, the State of Ohio, JobsOhio, Columbus 2020 and New Albany Company that not only helped us attract a high profile company like Facebook but also has made the New Albany International Business Park an economic engine for Ohio, growing to more than 15,000 jobs.”

With the addition of this project, the New Albany International Business Park will exceed 11 million square feet of total development. The park’s Information and Technology Cluster, which includes Aetna, Nationwide Insurance, Discover Financial Solutions and TJX Technology Center along with Facebook, now accounts for $2 billion in private investment.

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