The City of Starbase, Texas, will hold a public hearing at 7 p.m. on Dec. 9 on a proposed property-tax abatement and a related economic-development agreement for a SpaceX “gas-fired power plant and super-compute facility” with an estimated capital investment of about $24 billion for initial phases, according to the city’s public notice. The 956 Report, which reviewed the same notice, reported the hearing plans on Nov. 9.
Why it matters: Nothing has been approved. The notice is the first official document to put a dollar figure on the project, The 956 Report said. The $24 billion estimate covers “initial phases” and “may be constructed over multiple phases and include future expansions.” The notice gives no further detail about the plant or the computers.
The applicant and property owner is listed as Space Exploration Technologies Corp. The site is “an approximately 444-acre tract just east of the City of Brownsville, between Boca Chica Blvd and the Port of Brownsville,” inside Starbase city limits, identified as Cameron County Property ID 171887, and in the Cameron County Enterprise Zone. Commissioners would consider a Chapter 312 tax abatement and a Chapter 380 economic-development agreement. The notice does not say how large an abatement is being sought or what the Chapter 380 deal would include.
The hearing is scheduled at 48491 State Highway 4, Starbase, Texas. The 956 Report said the notice was posted Nov. 6, 33 days before the meeting, meeting a state requirement of at least 30 days’ notice.