Microsoft has paid a significantly larger amount than the current valuation of land in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin to build a multi-building data center.

The Creuziger family in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin has expressed consent to sell its 407-acre land to Microsoft, reported Milwaukee Business Journal.**

Microsoft initially paid $76 million to buy the land aimed to build a data centre campus in Mount Pleasant with a planned investment of over $1 billion.

Earlier, in 2017, the Creuziger family had received an offer from the local government about a third of the sum as part of an agreement with the Foxconn Technology Group. But the family refused, opting to hold out for a better offer.

Microsoft is paying a significantly big amount as the Creuziger family’s land was originally valued at $174,200 in 2023, but over time it rose to $598,400.

Software giant purchased the land including a giant pumpkin farm and nine-acre corn maze, neighbours another 641 acres of land for a total of $99.7 million.

According to the journal Microsoft plans to initially open 200 jobs at its Mount Pleasant data centre. They could add more than 460 jobs it’ll still be a fraction of the 13,000 jobs that Foxconn originally promised the area back in 2017.

However, the sale is a happy ending for the village after several years of confusion and mixed signals from Foxconn which promised to add a $10 billion investment in Mount Pleasant.

“The family wishes the village and Microsoft well, and they would appreciate people respecting their privacy,” the family’s attorney David Barnes told the Business Journal.