Google Should Buy Ford's Twin Cities Assembly Plant

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Published By: Ed Kohler on February 12, 2007 - 2:26pm
Original Blog Entry Located Here
Filed In: Data Management

Dear Google,

It's come to my attention that you're acquiring land near power plants. It just so happens that a beautiful parcel of land is opening up near a power plant in St. Paul, Minnesota that may be of interest to you.

First, where is St. Paul, Minnesota? Here you go (compliments of Google Earth):

St. Paul, Minnesota is the state capitol and home to 287,151 residents. It's also part of the larger Twin Cities metropolitan area of 2,000,000+ people. The area has highly educated workforce and includes many universities, including the University of Minnesota (home of Gopher ) and Macalester College (graduates include Kofi Annan and the Allaire brothers). Basically, it's an area with Google caliber employees.

Now, let's talk real estate. Here's a picture of the land parcel:

The industrial area in the center of the above picture is the topic of discussion. This is the current home of Ford Motor Company's Twin Cities Assembly Plant. This is where Ford Rangers come from. Ford has announced plans to close this plant in 2008, creating a rare opportunity to buy a huge piece of land in the heart of the Twin Cities.

Why Buy the Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant?

The plant offers a unique set of features that may be of interest to Google.

1. Your own hydroelectric dam. That's right. As you can see in the photo below, the Mississippi River is dammed just to the West of the plant, generating a steady stream of hydroelectric power to the facility. It's hard to beat hydroelectric power from the largest river in North America if you're looking for a reliable juice to run a data center. We're talking about 101,000,000 KWH of clean energy per year.

2. Your own train yard. If the rumors are true that you're considering building portable data centers in containers, what better way to ship those containers than on train cars straight from the assembly plant? You'd also have the option of putting them on barges a few miles from the plant to ship down the Mississippi. Tracks enter the property through the Southeast corner.

3. Free Parking. Employees love free parking. This location has acres and acres of parking currently used to store unsold Rangers coming off the assembly line.

4. Easy International Airport Access. This shot from the Northeast shows the parcel in the lower left corner and the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport's close proximity just across the Mississippi River. MSP is a Northwest Airlines hub offering direct flights to most major US cities, Amsterdam, and Tokyo.

5. Tunnels: Want a secure, climate controlled environment for a data center? How about UNDER the property? The land has tunnels underneath it from mining sandstone for vehicle windows.

6. Sub-dividable land. The North end of the property could easily be sold off for retail or mixed residential and retail development. Just to the Northeast of the property is an established neighborhood commercial area (restaurants, grocery, retail, movie theater, and Chipotle). People would love to see that extended the last few blocks to the river, replacing the assembly plant's parking lot on the South side of the road.

7. Tax benefits. I doubt St. Paul or Minnesota will cut a million dollar a worker subsidy the way North Carolina apparently did for you, but they certainly play the TIF game.

8. Access to growing companies. I've noticed that you're doing more hand holding of large corporate ad buyers lately, which makes sense. Few companies will approve million dollar ad spends without a personal relationship and some wining and dining. The Twin Cities are home to a lot of big ad spenders who could use some wooing, including General Mills, Best Buy, Target, 3M, and Medtronic. These are the types of companies who can make large ad buys, especially as you move into more rich-media advertising.

That's the good news. The darker side is the current environmental state of the land. It's safe to assume that 80 years of car manufacturing generates some environmental issues. Ford isn't exactly flush with cash to remediate the property, so it may take some help from the state or federal government to clean things up. Or, if you threw down some cash to clean it up, you'd look like heroes to your new neighbors.

That's the pitch. What's it going to take to get you to St. Paul, Minnesota?
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