Google confirms $10B, 500-acre data center in Kansas City’s Northland

Google has officially confirmed that it’s behind a future $10 billion data center complex in Kansas City’s Northland.

The five-building, 500-acre “hyperscale” data center was listed under the codename “Project Mica” in planning documents. Port Authority of Kansas City approved incentives last year for the data center campus off Interstate 435 and State Highway 169.

Google confirmed on Thursday that it’s behind “Project Mica.” It will be the company’s second data center development in the Northland.

“We have been proud to call Missouri home since we broke ground on our first data center campus in the state in 2024, which is still under construction,” Google’s regional head of data center public affairs Trystine Payfer said in a statement.

“We’re thrilled to confirm we are continuing our growth with another data center campus in Kansas City. This infrastructure will support economic growth for the area, power Google services that Missourians and local businesses use daily, and drive scientific breakthroughs that directly impact our communities.”

Payfer said, as part of Google’s agreement with Evergy, Google will cover the full energy costs associated with both data center campuses.

“To realize these benefits, securing the energy needed to support these facilities while protecting affordability is critically important,” Payfer said.

Port KC approved 75%, 25-year property tax breaks and full tax breaks on sales taxes for construction materials for Project Mica last summer. The Port also approved issuing $10 billion in bonds, which are not taxpayer money, and that the developer is responsible for paying back.

Even with the tax breaks, the development is still expected to generate millions of dollars in new revenue, Port KC officials have said, alongside hundreds of construction and trade jobs. The agreement also includes $1.5 million to support the Smithville School District’s workforce program and $250,000 to the Northland career center, both upfront.

Growing opposition to data centers in Kansas City

But since that approval last year, public opposition and community organizing efforts against data centers in Kansas City and beyond have grown. Those in opposition are concerned about the massive facilities’ use of electricity and water, and their impact on the environment, utility bills, surrounding neighborhoods, privacy, workers, tax revenues and beyond.

In that time, the Kansas City City Council has tightened rules around zoning and approvals for new data centers. Evergy and public utility regulators have implemented new rate rules intended to protect regular consumers and ensure massive power users, like data centers, pay their fair share for energy.

Nathan Willett, Kansas City City Council member for the First District, called for transparency going forward.

“I think we were giving out way too much incentives towards these data centers, and I’d like to see more money going to the school districts in the Northland,” he said.

Many organizers have called for the city to go even further to regulate or stem future data center construction.

“The concern that data centers are raising individuals’ utility rates, it’s actually quickly becoming the opposite,” Jon Stephens, president and CEO of Port KC, told The Star on Thursday.

Stephens said Port KC has been cautious and conscious about where possible data centers would be located — existing industrial zones — to address the potential environmental impacts while making developers responsible for building out infrastructure that supports even more development in those areas, not just data centers.

“Those things have been valuable,” he said. “And then companies like Google, like the one announced, are some of the leaders globally in continuing to lower their water usage.”

Stephens also noted the millions of dollars expected to come to the local school district as a result of Google’s new development.

Further details, including a construction timeline, are yet to be announced.

Data center growth continues in KC area

Data center development has exploded across the country in line with the growth of the artificial intelligence industry. They come in all sizes and several are either under construction or being proposed elsewhere in the KC metro. Patmos is operating a new center in The Star’s former printing press building in the Crossroads.

And another project was recently proposed in Independence, where public opposition is mounting. Officials say the large new development will bring jobs and a windfall of new revenue.

Clay County Commissioner Jason Withington said AI is going to change the world.

“It’s exciting to see Clay County be part of that future,” he said. “This is a race for innovation, and Google choosing to invest here speaks to where our county is headed. It means jobs, opportunity, and real momentum — and I’m proud we get to play a role in what’s coming next.”