Samsung says it will build $17B chip factory in Texas

[IluvATX]

Samsung says it will build $17B chip factory in Texas

Samsung said it plans to build a $17 billion semiconductor factory outside of Austin, Texas, amid a global shortage of chips used in phones, cars and other electronic devices.

“This is the largest foreign direct investment in the state of Texas, ever,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in announcing the project Tuesday.

Samsung said it will start building the Texas plant next year and hopes to begin operations in the second half of 2024. The South Korean electronics giant chose the site based on a number of factors, including government incentives and the “readiness and stability” of local infrastructure, said Samsung Vice Chairman Kinam Kim, speaking alongside the Republican governor.

https://apnews.com/article/technolog...5fba540453ce29

[llamaorama]

So now everything around Hutto and Taylor will be cookie-cutter subdivisions with one entrance and exit that don't pay city taxes and all dump on to some really congested rural roads.

[austlar1]

Originally Posted by llamaorama

So now everything around Hutto and Taylor will be cookie-cutter subdivisions with one entrance and exit that don't pay city taxes and all dump on to some really congested rural roads.

It's not like they were going to build this thing downtown. Anyway, Hutto is already cookie-cutter subdivisions. I'd rather have this thing out in the far reaches of the Austin metro than closer to town. The horrible congestion will arise mostly during construction of this beast. The employee headcount is only projected to be 2,000 to 2,500.

[Dariusb]

Do you think this will spur more growth along Hwy 79 or 130 tollway?

[austlar1]

Originally Posted by Dariusb

Do you think this will spur more growth along Hwy 79 or 130 tollway?

Probably quite a bit over time. There is plenty of land out that way and a huge appetite for affordable housing in the region. All of the Tesla related projects are towards the other end of the 130 tollway. I think everything east and northeast of Austin is poised for rapid growth. Bastrop, Elgin, and Taylor are all going to explode in the next decade. It's not the kind of growth that we like to cheer about on SSP, but it's going to happen just the same.

[llamaorama]

My post was really more of a swipe at how Austin and really the whole US does suburbs. Obviously the Tesla project is good for the region's economy.

[Manitopiaaa]

At this rate, I wouldn't be surprised if Austin has 5 million people by 2050. Crazy growth happening there.

[SFBruin]

Isn't Texas also the state with the largest (edible) chip factory (in Plano)?

[Crawford]

It would be nice if the U.S. could figure out how to do this without epic exurban sprawl. You know, like basically every other first world country.

Austin will be another Dallas in 20 years, with 98% of new growth on empty land.

[C.]

Originally Posted by llamaorama

So now everything around Hutto and Taylor will be cookie-cutter subdivisions with one entrance and exit that don't pay city taxes and all dump on to some really congested rural roads.

So.... par for the course.

The cookie cutter subdivisions is really a boomer thing. There is a strong movement these days from the younger generations that no one actually wants to live in that shit. It's just the only options available because that's what the land-use/comprehensive plans allow.

The real estate industry has noticed this trend. There is strong demand for walkable, mixed-use areas. Faux Urbanism if you will with those fake retail town centers with a little bit of housing. But I don't think we're going to continue to build the same way as we did in the 60s and 70s unless it's mandated by zoning.

[jmecklenborg]

Originally Posted by SFBruin

Isn't Texas also the state with the largest (edible) chip factory (in Plano)?

A certain P&G-manufactured chip is named after this hum-drum suburban street:
https://www.google.com/maps/@39.2236...7i13312!8i6656

[C.]

I wonder what percentage of the employees in this new facility will choose to live in the hip and trendy neighborhoods of Austin and make the drive out to Hutto and Taylor. Austin has seen explosive growth in condominiums and other higher density form of housing due to the strong desire for people to live there. I would think that this announcement today is only going to increase demand in those neighborhoods (but perhaps that's true for everywhere else, too; urban or not).

Would 20 percent of the new employees of this facility be living in Austin proper be too high of an estimate?

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by C.

Would 20 percent of the new employees of this facility be living in Austin proper be too high of an estimate?

That wouldn't even be 400 employees. Chip factories have fewer employees than a typical office building. This factory will employ 1,800 people.

Austin proper has a huge geography, and is mostly newer sprawl. I don't doubt some of those employees would live in Austin proper.

[SFBruin]

It's possible that this factory could employ people who don't work for Samsung.

[IluvATX]

According to Abbott, the facility will create over 2,000 tech jobs, thousands of indirect jobs, and a minimum of 6,500 construction jobs.

https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/texa...nt-on-tuesday/

[mrnyc]

isnt the real problem of computer chip shortages due to difficulties obtaining rare materials like chemicals and rare earth materials needed for computers like copper, etc.?

maybe elon needs to go mine those asteroids.

[TexasPlaya]

Originally Posted by C.

So.... par for the course.

The cookie cutter subdivisions is really a boomer thing. There is a strong movement these days from the younger generations that no one actually wants to live in that shit. It's just the only options available because that's what the land-use/comprehensive plans allow.

The real estate industry has noticed this trend. There is strong demand for walkable, mixed-use areas. Faux Urbanism if you will with those fake retail town centers with a little bit of housing. But I don't think we're going to continue to build the same way as we did in the 60s and 70s unless it's mandated by zoning.

Young families are scooping up suburban cookie cutter homes in Austin as fast as they are built.

[UrbanImpact]

From Bloomberg:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...p?srnd=premium

The plan includes waiving 90% of property taxes for a decade, and 85% for the following 10 years. An incentive program that reduces the taxes Samsung would pay for schools is estimated to cost $314 million.

In addition to those abatements, the state is giving Samsung a $27 million grant from its Texas Enterprise Fund, which is aimed at luring projects that create jobs. The company could also get help with the construction and operation of the facility, such as exempting sales tax on materials used for building.

[C.]

Originally Posted by TexasPlaya

Young families are scooping up suburban cookie cutter homes in Austin as fast as they are built.

Yes but young families are not 100% of the demographics. There are plenty of singles, and families eschewing children to live the lifestyle they want to live. I know that the LGBTQ lead a lot of the early renaissance of cities since they were not concerned about school quality while all of the couples with kids flocked to the suburbs where the good schools were located. Things have since changed, but it get really annoying with the perception that everything must be planned around the traditional nuclear families with young kids. There are plenty of other types of households in the United States.

[C.]

Originally Posted by Crawford

That wouldn't even be 400 employees. Chip factories have fewer employees than a typical office building. This factory will employ 1,800 people.

Austin proper has a huge geography, and is mostly newer sprawl. I don't doubt some of those employees would live in Austin proper.

Thanks. Not as much as a downtown office building would bring to Austin, but the 400 employees plus others added by the economic multiplier effect isn't bad at all for Austin or the metro area at large.