Cologix and Xtreme Express were awarded tax incentives this week for expanding their presence in Columbus. Columbus City Council passed two enterprise zone incentives on Monday, giving the companies 75% tax abatements for 10 years.
“Economic development is about people, this is about opportunities for the people of Columbus,” Council member Nick Bankston said at the meeting. Cologix, a data center firm, says it plans to invest about $160 million in its expansion, building a new 250,000-square-foot data center on at 7500 and 7474 Alta View Blvd.
This will be Cologix’s fourth data center in the region, according to a release from the company. Of that $160 million investment, the firm plans to spend about $61 million on real estate and $99.5 million in machinery and equipment, according to council documents.
The expansion will create 15 new jobs with an estimated annual payroll of $1.5 million and retain 24 full-time jobs with an annual payroll of approximately $1.4 million at two separate locations, according to city documents.
Columbus Development Director Michael Stevens said at the council meeting that incentivizing Cologix to expand in Columbus was important because they have a national presence and could have selected another city for the expansion.
Logistics company Xtreme Express, Elter Building Systems and Alterra Real Estate Advisors plan to invest $11 million on real estate and $400,000 on improving its existing building, city documents state. Alterra will own the site and be Xtreme Express’ landlord, city documents state.
The three companies recently began the first of a multi-phase effort to grow Xtreme Express’ footprint, while bringing all its local facilities together in the same place.
The first two phases will be additions to the company’s existing home at 6611 Broughton Ave. in Blacklick, while the third phase will involve ground-up construction of a separate building on land Xtreme Express is acquiring next to its current facility.
The first phase is an 80,000-square-foot warehouse and office extension to the east, and the second phase is a 46,000-square-foot warehouse addition to the south.
The third phase will be a new, 70,000-square-foot building that will house more warehousing.
Xtreme Express will retain 81 full-time jobs with annual payroll of approximately $3.83 million and create 50 new full-time permanent positions with an estimated annual payroll of $2.6 million, according to city documents.