Hello to all my 3rd Ward neighbors,
This week I want to speak to the proposed moratorium on data centers in Minneapolis. The Council Members who are proposing this ordinance have agreed to postpone the vote until May 21st. My plan is to demonstrate to all Council Members several truths regarding urban data centers:
- There is a big difference between a 300-400 megawatt data center in a rural setting and a 30-50 megawatt operation in an existing commercial building in downtown.
- This week Council Vice President Osman and I toured the new data center in the former American Express computer center on 3rd Ave S. The building is now called the Sleep Number building. In addition to the Sleep Number offices, the building also houses a data center on 2 floors. There is currently 20 megawatts and the plan is to expand to 40 megawatts.
- By adding a new, higher use, the building which was assessed at $30 million was sold for $235 million. Yes, a 2 floor data center added over $200 million to the value of the building. This is in stark contrast to recent sales in downtown which include a building valued at $200 million selling for $6 million, and the beautiful Lumber Exchange building selling for $1…
- In order to stop the increase in housing costs to all renters and homeowners in Minneapolis, we must increase the value of the large commercial buildings in downtown. Every year the downtown buildings lose value and pay less in property taxes is a year residents pay more to make up for the revenue shortfall.
- Since Minneapolis is in a northern climate, data centers can use air to cool their systems from October through March, thus reducing water usage. There is also much lower electric demand in downtown currently and no additional capacity is needed.
- Data centers not only provide well-paid union jobs when built, they also employ a large workforce to staff them 24 hours a day adding to the downtown workforce and the local economy.
I believe that city staff and the Council should do some research on urban vs. rural data centers to understand the pros and cons of data centers located in underutilized buildings. Slapping on a moratorium is a knee-jerk reaction. Everyone who uses a smartphone, computer, or any internet-connected device is using a data center. Data centers being closer to users also increases their efficiency. I believe the responsible path forward is to explore the opportunities data centers offer in the rebirth of downtown.
This week the Business, Housing, and Zoning Committee sent forward to the full Council a recommendation to ceremonially rename Blaisdell Ave from Franklin to 22nd for Officer Jamal Mitchell. This is where Officer Mitchell heroically tried to provide aid to the man who ultimately murdered him.
As always, Henry, Patrick, and I are here to serve you. We can be reached at ward3@minneapolismn.gov. Please report all issues to 311 before contacting us so there is a paper trail and staff are already aware of the issue when we speak with them. You can contact 311 by simply dialing 311, email them at Minneapolis311@
Your neighbor,
Michael
Via constituent newsletter
I’m curious what regulations and safeguards Council Member Rainville is proposing to ensure that the benefits of data centers outweigh the costs. What safeguards will there be for consumer utility rates? The Sleep Number space was designed to support 1000 workers; the data center has somewhere between 35 and 50, with about half being being contractors. The temporary union construction gigs touted will come almost no matter what reuse the buildings are put to as they are redeveloped. What makes a data center a good use downtown? How will it add to vibrancy and and a place people want to spend time? Why is a pause bad if it will give policymakers time to think through issues before making disastrous commitments of our downtown core?
Everything in downtown seems temporary now and designed for people who do not live here. We as a community undersupport the respected arts community (Guthrie, MN Orchestra, Hennepin Theater District) that has traditionally anchored Minneapolis. We give huge subsidies to well-funded sports franchises and favor big special events on Nicollet Mall rather than steady daily reasons to be there because they are friendly and welcoming.
Encouraging downtown to be a wasteland of data centers without a strategic plan for how it might work effectively is folly. Take a little time to think and plan before grabbing on to an environmentally and humanity-destroying bandwagon.
This isn’t a serious conversation if you can’t even mention AI and the impact to the price consumers pay for electricity. Acting like urban data centers are just something we have to accept because we have smart phones is highly misleading. I don’t think most people really care that a couple downtown buildings – that were built to be data centers to begin with – are going to continue to be data centers. The question is whether we should encourage other vacant properties to become data centers, including large properties like the Star Tribune print facility. These data centers can juice the valuation of a building, but how do they really create growth or vibrancy? The fact this is even being entertained shows how little imagination some people have, and also a lot of desperation – hoping to find that one little trick to make things better. If we allow data centers to proliferate downtown, you can’t easily undo that. Once those investments are made, we’re stuck with that for decades.
There are already several smaller-scale data centers in downtown. It is pretty rich when people use social media and comments sections to decry data centers.
I am not weighing in on this topic because I do not know enough about it YET…but happy to see that CM Osman may be starting to behave more independently now, outside of the vise-grip that the Wonley/DSA voting block, the Chugleys, have had on him since they
gathered him up, in a big strategic move, in exchange for making him V Pres.
Time for CM Osman to start advocating for his ward AND the City.
Excerpt…
“This week Council Vice President Osman and I toured…”
Rainville: There is already a data center in downtown Minneapolis, and it’s small enough that even an increase in size won’t tax the power capacity of the local power plants. Also, this data center has already increased the value of the building it’s in by $200 million. This is necessary as the collapse of the downtown real estate market is starving Minneapolis of tax revenues and without the data centers we’re going to have to boost residents’ taxes.
Ron Way: Spurious! (But I won’t say why, I just hate Rainville.)
😊
Rainville’s spurious reasons to build downtown data centers is precisely the reason for (him especially) to better understand what he’s talking about. Whose knee is jerking here?
What is untrue about anything he said? Back up your attacks with facts, please.