Conway City Council OKs MOU to pursue large data‑center campus; 65% property‑tax abatement included in draft

Conway City Council voted unanimously, 8-0, to enter a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with a prospective data‑center developer and two local partners that would commit the city to negotiate project-specific agreements including a proposed 65% property‑tax abatement for 30 years.

The MOU would bind the city, Conway Corporation and the Conway Foundation to continue negotiations with the company, which chamber and economic‑development officials described as a U.S.‑based Fortune‑100 firm. City officials said the MOU is a nonbinding, early step that clears the way for later ordinances, a utility rate study and an industrial revenue bond to effect any formal tax abatement.

“This has been a very, very, long project that we've worked on, and so this is a big step forward for the community,” Brad Lacey, a chamber/CDC representative, told the council during a presentation explaining the MOU and next steps.

Why it matters: presenters and staff said the project could be far larger than typical local developments. The MOU describes an initial 300,000‑square‑foot building and ancillary infrastructure with an anticipated first‑phase investment of about $1 billion and roughly 50 full‑time jobs…