Redevelopment commission approves community enhancement pact tied to Amazon data center

The Redevelopment Commission on an unanimous recorded vote approved a community enhancement agreement that accompanies a proposed two-site Amazon Data Services project north and south of the GM site in the New Carlisle Economic Development Area.

The agreement, presented by staff, is an addendum to larger infrastructure and incentive packages being negotiated for the project that staff said could span roughly 870 acres across three sites and could include as many as 22 building 'shells.' Staff described a proposed project investment of about $11,000,000,000 and an estimated 400 employees for initial operations.

Why it matters: the community enhancement agreement supplements standard tax and utility payments with targeted local fees and one-time contributions meant to fund fire services, student-success programs and parks/green space in St. Joseph County. Staff estimated that, on a full buildout of 22 shells, each of those three enhancement funds could collect about $475,200 across the full build-out scenario, while other one-time items and infrastructure…