Google linked to Groot LLC.
A large data center campus is being proposed in West Memphis, Arkansas. Local press suggests Google could be behind the project.
Local news outlets, including Kark and WREG, report city officials are working with a Fortune 100 company around infrastructure and incentives to bring a data center development to the area.
A city spokesman says they are working with a company called Groot LLC. The West Memphis city council voted last week to approve several agreements with Groot LLC, including a $10 billion payment-in-lieu-of-taxes arrangement.
“We’re excited to be working with a Fortune 100 company on a project that will bring high-paying jobs, cutting-edge infrastructure, and long-term growth to West Memphis,” Mayor Marco McClendon said in a statement sent to WREG.
Groot this year submitted plans for a five-building data center campus known as Project Pyramid in West Memphis to the US Army Corps of Engineers for environmental approval.
The project site is located on a 1,178-acre property on the south side of Bollinger Road in West Memphis, Crittenden County – south of a Coca-Cola Consolidated bottling plant.
Some 580 acres would host the majority of the campus, which would feature five data center buildings and an on-site substation. Entergy Arkansas will provide power to the site. Groot reportedly bought the land parcels in November 2024.
BizJournal reports that Google is the hyperscaler behind Groot, citing multiple sources. The search giant is yet to make any announcement on the project.
News that an unnamed data center company was looking to develop on Bollinger Road surfaced last year. At the time, the affiliate, Spark Innovations LLC, reportedly aimed to invest $3 billion.
