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Foxconn confirms Racine County site for sprawling factory complex

http://www.jsonline.com/story/money/2017/10/04/foxconn-confirms-racine-county-site-sprawling-factory-complex/731331001/

STURTEVANT - Racine County officials on Wednesday confirmed the location of the massive Foxconn factory that someday could employ thousands.

The sprawling industrial complex, covering 20 million square feet and by far the largest industrial complex in the state, will be located off I-94 between Highway 11 and Highway KR, officials said at a news conference.

The exact location will be in the far southwest corner of the village of Mount Pleasant on 1,198 acres in a section bounded by I-94 on the west, Highway KR on the south, Highway H on the east and Braun Road on the north.

That land is within a larger area in which real estate brokers have been working for months to put properties under contract for sale for the project.

Adjacent sections north of Braun Road and east of Highway H were designated for construction staging and future development.

The efforts to acquire rights to the necessary land may not yet be complete. Material prepared for Wednesday's announcement said Racine County and Mount Pleasant "are working with Foxconn to assemble land for the primary manufacturing campus and land nearby that can accommodate Foxconn's future expansion and supplier companies."

The unveiling of Foxconn's site choice came at an elaborate presentation at the SC Johnson iMet Center in Sturtevant. About 200 people were present, and rooms featured displays of the ultra high resolution flat screens that Foxconn plans to build in Wisconsin.

"This is truly an historic day for Racine County," Racine County Executive Jonathan Delagrave said.

He said three informational sessions will be held in coming weeks to seek public comments.

"We are committed to making sure your input is part of this process,” Delagrave said.

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Still unknown as of Wednesday morning: the scope of the local incentive package being offered to woo Foxconn. A statement from Racine County and Mount Pleasant said the government entities "are preparing a development agreement that is structured to mitigate the village and county risk associated with the project."


About 35 landowners hold property within Foxconn’s chosen site, plus several residents of a small subdivision near the intersection of Highway KR and Highway H.

Property owners have been offered $50,000 an acre for open land — several times the going rate for agricultural land in the area. How the purchase of homes will be handled is not yet known. The area targeted includes more than 20 homes.

While some have questioned whether Foxconn will truly follow through on its ambitious plans — pointing to proposed projects in places such as Pennsylvania and Brazil that didn’t get built as originally announced — a key Foxconn executive reiterated Wednesday that the project here will go forward.

Louis Woo, special assistant to Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou, said the company will hire 13,000 people directly and create “tens of thousands” of additional jobs at suppliers.