Apr. 3—CHEYENNE — Next week, Cheyenne City Council members will discuss annexation of more than 900 acres southwest of the Interstates 25 and 80 interchange, adjacent to Roundtop Road. In November 2023, the council approved a development agreement for Project Cosmo, a years-long project that proposes a multi-billion-dollar data center project in south Cheyenne.
Across Cheyenne’s business parks, there are many upcoming developments that promise to bring jobs to the area, and give a boost to the Cheyenne and Laramie County economies.
Project Equality includes a 418-acre plot of land south of the North Range Business Park that is a portion of land likely to be annexed by Cheyenne next week. Once annexed, it will become a part of the park, and the city will annex the entire North Range Business Park. Although Cheyenne LEADS, the economic development agency for Cheyenne and Laramie County, has yet to announce what Project Equality will be, the land is owned by Microsoft and is likely to be home to a new Microsoft data center campus.
In the existing, northern portion of North Range Business Park, New Zealand-based Ulrich Manufacturing has broken ground on a fencing material and fence manufacturing equipment facility, and it will resume construction in April, according to LEADS.
South of the North Range Business Park is the Cheyenne Logistics Hub. This privately-owned business park is the only one in Cheyenne to have access to rail service. While there are no active upcoming projects there at the moment, Director of Business and Retention for Cheyenne LEADS Rachelle Zimmerman said some companies have looked at the park.
“We love when companies come in and buy from private landowners and private developers,” she said. “We encourage businesses all the time to try and look at the Cheyenne Logistics Hub, but right now, I just don’t have any projects that are imminent in that park.”
Cheyenne Logistics Hub is located south of Interstate 80 and west of I-25. On the other side of I-25 is the High Plains Business Park — the future home of Project Cosmo.
The first phase of Project Cosmo will be an 880,000-square-foot enterprise data center. After all phases are complete, the project will occupy around 2.4 million square feet across the 900-acre campus. The project will build five miles of road from U.S. Highway 85 to Terry Ranch Road, as well as sewer and water services to 2,100 acres south of the Cosmo property.
Zimmerman said the name of the company behind the multi-billion-dollar Project Cosmo will likely be announced in June.
“Annually, this and the other data centers located in Wyoming result in over $100 million in gross domestic product. This a game-changer for the state,” LEADS CEO Betsey Hale said in an earlier interview with the Wyoming Business Report.
Bison Business Park, located southeast of the High Plains Business Park, adjacent to the east side of Highway 85, is currently home to one operational Microsoft data center. According to LEADS, there will possibly be more Microsoft data center developments in that business park.
East of central Cheyenne and north of I-80 is the 900-acre Cheyenne Business Parkway. Currently, one Microsoft data center is there, and another is slated to be built. Eagle Claw Manufacturing is set to open there, as well, in late 2024, according to LEADS.
Another developer is looking at 20 acres on the park’s west side, and LEADS is master planning 70 acres in Cheyenne Business Parkway for distribution and warehousing, as well.
On the other side of I-80 from Cheyenne Business Parkway is another portion of Project Equality, which will be home to four new data centers.
LEADS is also working with a development south of Cheyenne, north of Chalk Bluff Road, that will be home to a 900-megawatt solar farm to serve data center customers.
Cheyenne Mayor Patrick Collins said LEADS has been successful at attracting data centers for a number of reasons.
In 2010, the Wyoming Legislature enacted a sales tax exemption for various computer equipment for data centers that have invested at least $5 million in the state. The exemption also applies to companies that invest at least $50 million on power supplies and cooling equipment, making the Cowboy State an attractive candidate for development.
Another reason is the climate. The cool and dry environment at 6,220 feet elevation means companies do not have to spend as much on their cooling systems.
“And then we have the land here,” Collins said. “And that land happens to be very close to the backbone of the internet that runs along the railroad tracks. So, companies can come here, and we have all the good things, and then we have the infrastructure we can tie it to so they can access it. It’s been huge for us.”
With more business comes more jobs, and with more jobs comes more people. Wenlin Liu, chief economist for the Wyoming Economic Analysis Division, said it is important to remain conscious of the labor force.
He said that as the birth rate continues to decrease, unemployment continues to fall and the older population leaves the workforce, states will have to compete with one another to attract a labor force to meet their demand.
“Some people think, ‘Yeah, we have these business parks, and we think we will attract more people, attract more business.’ But it’s getting harder,” Liu said. “Again, nationwide, just the slow labor force increase, slow population increase, it’s really not as easy as 10 years ago.”
“Having said that, we do have some advantage. Wyoming is a relatively low tax burden for residents, that’s for sure. That should be an attractive point.”
As the population of Cheyenne and the rest of Laramie County is expected to grow due to these new data centers and other factors like the Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile project, Collins keeps housing top of mind.
Just like most of the country, there is a shortage of housing in Cheyenne and across Wyoming. Collins said he is averaging a meeting per day to discuss and address this issue, including looking at innovative technologies to bring rapid housing development at a relatively low cost to Cheyenne.
Hale previously told the WTE that Project Cosmo would only bring between 20 and 30 employees to the area at a time to ease any potential housing burdens.
Noah Zahn is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle’s local government/business reporter. He can be reached at 307-633-3128 or nzahn@wyomingnews.com. Follow him on X @NoahZahnn.
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