SA Lands Yet Another Large Data Center

[sirkingwilliam]

At least one company is expected to announce another 250,000-square-foot data center in Westover Hills by year's end, said Mario Hernandez, president of the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation.

Hernandez made the comment Tuesday following a luncheon speech to members of the San Antonio Manufacturers Association at the Bright Shawl.

During his speech, Hernandez said San Antonio is seeing record activity from outside companies looking to locate operations here. The city has a record 115 active prospects, up from 96 last year, he said.

"We're seeing more than two companies in town every week," Hernandez said. "They are coming here on their own nickel. They are serious about looking at San Antonio."

http://www.mysanantonio.com/business...o.28b1078.html

[arbeiter]

which?

[vertex]

Don't get too caught up in the fact that S.A. is attractive to data centers. They don't pick the location because of the city's amenities or good schools. It doesn't take a whole lot of people to manage one, and the personnel used are essentially the IT-industry's equivalent to caretakers (or babysitters). The real brains/talent don't have to be co-located with the data center, so they aren't.

Data centers only need 3 things; cheap land, cheap talent and cheap electricity. The only time a town should get excited about luring a data center is if/when it belongs to a local company.

If it isn't a local company, then I only hope you aren't giving away the farm, in terms of land, tax abatements, or electricity rebates. That would be naive.

[arbeiter]

Yes, it's not exactly a plum offering in terms of the tech world.

The major Seattle-area data centers for Google, Microsoft, etc. are located in small towns like Moses Lake, The Dalles, and Quincy. And they're of similar size.

[adtobias]

I agree with vertex

[SAguy]

posted by vertex- Data centers only need 3 things; cheap land, cheap talent and cheap electricity. The only time a town should get excited about luring a data center is if/when it belongs to a local company.

That's a whole lotta b/s. Cheap talent? How do you figure that data centers are being managed by cheap talent? BTW, the land out Westoverhills isn't cheap.

[21bl0wed]

Originally Posted by SAguy

That's a whole lotta b/s. Cheap talent? How do you figure that data centers are being managed by cheap talent? BTW, the land out Westoverhills isn't cheap.

I think he meant cheap as in, not as expensive as land in other major metros.

[vertex]

I can't speak for the price of the land in Westoverhills. But land, labor and utilities are major criteria scouts use when they look for new DC sites. Quality of life issues are way-down on the list.

The best thing S.A. can do to leverage this situation is to get these companies to work together with ATT to create a decent optical/network backbone for your city. Hopefully that will lure other support companies to the area.

If you need an example of synergy between a Telco and other tech-oriented companies, look to Denver.

[adtobias]

plus 75 jobs does not help this city of almost 2 million

[arbeiter]

It is true: data centers are the "remote outposts" of the industry. Now, if a software development center were coming to SA, that would be something to talk about.

[SAguy]

adtobias-plus 75 jobs does not help this city of almost 2 million

It's better to be gaining high paying jobs than loosing them. What's the deal with everyone being so negative about a data center?

[KevinFromTexas]

Yeah, I see everyone's point, still being a bit negative, though. One thing I had thought of is only 75 people for a 250,000 square foot building? Seems a bit low of a number for that big of a building. Whatever, though, they are decent paying jobs, albeit boring.

[matttwentyeight]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

Yeah, I see everyone's point, still being a bit negative, though. One thing I had thought of is only 75 people for a 250,000 square foot building? Seems a bit low of a number for that big of a building. Whatever, though, they are decent paying jobs, albeit boring.

LOL...

[arbeiter]

I think the issue is that the energy of San Antonio should be focused on something more substantial, that's why people are questioning this. It's simply not something that you would report on as being a substantial addition to a local economy.

[JAM]

Originally Posted by arbeiter

I think the issue is that the energy of San Antonio should be focused on something more substantial, that's why people are questioning this. It's simply not something that you would report on as being a substantial addition to a local economy.

non-the-less, I'm glad to know the info. Probably wouldn't know it was going on in SA otherwise.

If they are building new facilities, it is also creating construction jobs.

[arbeiter]

I wouldn't have said anything if not for the fact that they don't even have the name of the company listed - indicating it's not a sure thing. how long before san antonians begin to wonder what the value is in hyping every little thing?