"Biggest economic development project since the creation of Texas A&M University"

22,265 Views | 119 Replies | Last: 2 mo ago by Hornbeck
Bunk Moreland
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if it fails means it would happen a lot sooner than a 16 year runway. And again, there are major differences to a business campus and what they are going to be building out there. That facility would not sit empty.
tu ag
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AG
I really do want it to succeed.
On the other hand, if it does, my property taxes will probably (once again) skyrocket, due to all the demand in the housing market.
Bunk Moreland
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Understand some find that frustrating...but nothing is going to slow down the growth here. We're already a Houston suburb for some south CS folks. It's coming one way or another, so we might as well bring the best jobs, infrastructure, restaurants, and entertainment we can...in as responsible a manner as possible of course.

But there's no slowing down the BCS train for the next 20+ years.
Hornbeck
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tu ag said:

I really do want it to succeed.
On the other hand, if it does, my property taxes will probably (once again) skyrocket, due to all the demand in the housing market.


I'm pretty ambivalent. I work in high tech already, and do really well. I have an international role, so I have the luxury of living where I want. As a former student, and the low cost of housing / taxes when we moved here made this somewhat of a no-brainer. At this point though, we are seriously discussing moving 15-20 miles out into one of the much cheaper surrounding counties. With Starlink being an option for rural broadband, I'm no longer tied to high speed internet being a limiting factor.

I've also worked in the tech sector for my entire career. I've been with household names, and I've been with startups that crashed and burned. These days, my opinion of startups is not very high, as I would rather put my time and effort into a company that compensates its employees well, and offers the stability I need to be able to plan for my eventual retirement. Startups are a young person's game, and that is no longer me. I hope they do well, but this is not the slam dunk that some are envisioning.
techno-ag
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LOL. Some of you are already lamenting this company's demise and we don't even know much about it yet. It's worse than a new restaurant opening.
I think that, to be very honest with you, I do believe that we should have rightly believed, but we certainly believe that certain issues are just settled.

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Tailgate88
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techno-ag said:

LOL. Some of you are already lamenting this company's demise and we don't even know much about it yet. It's worse than a new restaurant opening.
Well it's obviously doomed since it is so far from the bypass.
techno-ag
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Tailgate88 said:

techno-ag said:

LOL. Some of you are already lamenting this company's demise and we don't even know much about it yet. It's worse than a new restaurant opening.
Well it's obviously doomed since it is so far from the bypass.

It's also kinda expensive for this town.
bcstx06
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Forgive me, I'm out of the loop. I thought the big thing happening was a nuclear plant. Is that happening in addition to this?
benchmark
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techno-ag said:

LOL. Some of you are already lamenting this company's demise and we don't even know much about it yet. It's worse than a new restaurant opening.
For real. Good grief. Also, IMO too soon to take bets on the developer's ID. American Foundaries and it's CEO are likely cutouts. Oz is still hiding behind the curtain IMO. And what's with the bellyaching about ripping off taxpayers if the project goes tits up? How so? What municipal investment is at risk?

If there's any taxpayer debate, it's fed spending via the CHIPS Act. That said, Taiwan (e.g. TCMC) accounts for 67% of the global chip market. Least we forget what happened in Detroit during COVID and what's at risk if Taiwan's chip supply instantly disappears.
Hornbeck
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bcstx06 said:

Forgive me, I'm out of the loop. I thought the big thing happening was a nuclear plant. Is that happening in addition to this?


Nuclear plant with 1GW capacity (which has a price tag of approximately $5.5Billion) is what was thrown around. Other folks say multiple smaller 300kw nuclear plants. Which still have a price tag that starts in the $1.5B price range. That's a lot of cash no matter how you cut it.

Semiconductor plant that's going to take business away from Taiwan. That's what other folks are saying. I'm sure that the Taiwanese chipmaker interests will sit idly by while this happens. No one is saying anything concrete because they swore all the local politicos to secrecy with an NDA.

I'm not lamenting anything. I'm simply trying to point out, this is an extremely complex venture Mr. Sharp is advocating. *Either one of them* There's a whole lot of steps between Point A, where we're at today, and Point Z, where we all live in a tax free Nirvana supported by the booming semiconductor factory.
maroon barchetta
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Hornbeck said:

bcstx06 said:

Forgive me, I'm out of the loop. I thought the big thing happening was a nuclear plant. Is that happening in addition to this?


Nuclear plant with 1GW capacity (which has a price tag of approximately $5.5Billion) is what was thrown around. Other folks say multiple smaller 300kw nuclear plants. Which still have a price tag that starts in the $1.5B price range. That's a lot of cash no matter how you cut it.

Semiconductor plant that's going to take business away from Taiwan. That's what other folks are saying. I'm sure that the Taiwanese chipmaker interests will sit idly by while this happens. No one is saying anything concrete because they swore all the local politicos to secrecy with an NDA.

I'm not lamenting anything. I'm simply trying to point out, this is an extremely complex venture Mr. Sharp is advocating. *Either one of them* There's a whole lot of steps between Point A, where we're at today, and Point Z, where we all live in a tax free Nirvana supported by the booming semiconductor factory.


A what?????? [/county and city leaders]
benchmark
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Hornbeck said:

Semiconductor plant that's going to take business away from Taiwan. That's what other folks are saying. I'm sure that the Taiwanese chipmaker interests will sit idly by while this happens. No one is saying anything concrete because they swore all the local politicos to secrecy with an NDA.
For real? Just 3 months ago (April) TCMC announced 3 plants in Phoenix valued at $65 Billion!!! The first plant opens by Q2 2025. At full capacity, TSMC Arizona will mfg tens of millions of leading-edge chips for products like 5G/6G smartphones, autonomous vehicles, and AI datacenter servers. Right here in the good 'ol USA!

So, how do you know TCMC isn't behind the RELLIS project?
Hornbeck
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benchmark said:


So, how do you know TCMC isn't behind the RELLIS project?


I don't. No one does. But I also have a friend / Aggie classmate who designs chips for Qualcomm and Apple, and he said that there is a whole lot of ballyhooing about making chips here, like the Foxconn plant that Trump ballyhooed, that fizzled out. That was supposed to be a $10B endeavor as well, have a read how that's working out for Wisconsin…

https://www.theverge.com/policy/2019/4/26/18518650/foxconn-wisconsin-factory-lcd-buildings-us
TommyBrady
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https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/08/tech/microsoft-ai-wisconsin/index.html
Hornbeck
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Yet more ballyhooing. I was hoping someone would post this…

You made my point. Foxconn said they'd invest $10B. They invested $1B. Microsoft says they're throwing $3.3B, I'll believe it when I see it. Why? Because they are a public company, and when given the choice to live up to their commitment versus raising the stock by a point, guess which one Satya Nadella is going to do? I'm pretty sure I know. Publicly traded companies don't always do things for the good of their employees, let alone the general public.

So, Microsoft is building 4 DCs with a total staff of 2000. Far less than the 13,000 promised by Foxconn. No huge economic boom.

By 2021, Wisconsin spent $683 million of taxpayer funds on a manufacturing campus that never came into full fruition. They then sold to MSFT for $100M? Yeah, that sounds like the great math of a local government entity, but I can't quite put my finger on it….. $583M to bring in 2000 jobs. Does that sound like a great trade-off?

Many, many twists and turns before there is a nuclear powered semiconductor plant off of Highway 21 West.
 
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