CLAREMORE, Okla. – September 2, 2026 – Beale Infrastructure (Beale) and Sequoyah Public School are proud to announce that Beale will be providing a $600,000 donation to fund the development of a new family and student fitness-focused playground at the school district’s new elementary school.
The contribution will fund the construction of the playground as well as five years toward park maintenance and operations. An additional $25,000 will be provided to support enhanced STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) programs.
The new playground will address a growing gap students and the community face in finding readily available physical and recreational fitness. With a focus on guided play and physical fitness, the playground will foster both social and emotional development, and promote healthy, active lifestyles – without students and families having to travel outside of the community.
“Sequoyah Public School is grateful for the partnership with Beale Infrastructure,” said Dr. Terry Saul, Sequoyah Public School Superintendent. “This first project shows the commitment that Beale has and will continue to make to Sequoyah Public School now and in the future.”
This innovative project will be available to the community outside of school hours, and will be available for events and community gatherings at no cost. The playground will also be incorporated into the current physical education curriculum, where students will be taught how to use the equipment and encouraged to bring their friends and family to the playground to interact together.
“At Beale, we envision supporting projects like this that can leave lasting, positive impacts for everyone in the community,” said Tony Burkart, Senior Vice President of Public Policy & Public Affairs at Beale. “This state-of-the art playground is one example of that commitment, and something we hope the whole community can celebrate and enjoy for decades to come.”
Community projects supported by Beale are in addition to the significant revenue generated by the project from direct Tax Incentive District (TID) payments. During the first phase, it is estimated $78 million will be directed toward schools.
To learn more about the project, visit https://bealeinfra.com/location/claremore/.
TULSA COUNTY — Google and Beale Infrastructure today announced details for a new data center campus under construction in unincorporated Tulsa County near Cherokee Industrial Park.
This planned investment includes Google’s commitments to community engagement and transparency, energy affordability, managing water responsibly, training a talented local workforce and supporting the community.
The 506-acre campus will join Google’s global network of data centers that powers the technology America relies on — from Google search to online banking, hospitals and emergency systems.
“The Tulsa Regional Chamber is thrilled that Google is deepening its footprint in northeastern Oklahoma,” said Mike Neal, president and CEO of the Tulsa Regional Chamber. “Google is synonymous with quality and commitment to community. We look forward to furthering a relationship that began nearly 20 years ago when Google announced it was coming to Mid-America Industrial Park in Pryor.”
Google has proudly called Oklahoma home for nearly two decades, investing more than $15 billion statewide since setting down roots with its first data center campus in Pryor in 2011. The company is actively expanding its digital infrastructure footprint in the state with new facilities under construction in Stillwater and Muskogee County.
In 2025 alone, Google’s investments and technologies helped provide more than $2.6 billion of economic activity for tens of thousands of Oklahoma businesses, publishers, nonprofits, creators, and developers. In Tulsa, small businesses like Dog Dish and Boddle Learning use Google tools to grow their businesses, support their customers and collaborate with students every day.
“This project is far more than an infrastructure investment; it is a long-term commitment to Tulsa County’s future,” said Trystine Payfer, Google’s Public Affairs Manager for Oklahoma. “Building data centers the right way means being a good neighbor first. Here in Tulsa County, that means strengthening the local energy grid and creating real, lasting opportunities for local businesses, families and schools.”
“This project in Tulsa County is a continued vote of confidence in Oklahoma and its future,” said Julian Kudritzki, Chief Operating Officer for Beale Infrastructure.
“Beale is proud to invest in the state alongside an industry leader like Google, which has a track record of prioritizing community partnership across the region and state of Oklahoma.”
Supporting energy affordability and local training
Google builds its data centers with a commitment to support local utility systems and pay its own way. Powered by Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO), the Tulsa County project includes construction of a new on-site substation funded by Beale. These direct investments in utility upgrades will strengthen energy reliability and grid stability across the region.
Located just west of Owasso, the new campus will bring significant public infrastructure upgrades. The project will enhance PSO’s transmission and distribution system reliability across the region, ensuring robust capacity for digital infrastructure and regional power demand. This builds on Google’s long record of supporting growth in Oklahoma’s power infrastructure; since 2011, the company has signed more than 15 agreements to enable the development of more than 2.5 GW of new power generation and storage projects.
“Technology continues to shape every sector of our economy, and investments like this help position Tulsa County for long-term growth,” said Kim Wilmes, senior vice president of economic development for the Tulsa Regional Chamber. “Google’s investment will create high-quality jobs, generate opportunities for local businesses and contribute lasting value to our communities. It is another example of the momentum our region is building as leading companies continue to recognize our strengths and invest in our community.”
Investing in the Tulsa region’s digital future means building a stronger physical grid for everyone. To help develop the labor needed to build new energy infrastructure, Google is also supporting an innovative program with the electrical training ALLIANCE (etA) to train existing electrical workers and add more than 160 apprentices in the state by 2030.
“Google isn’t just investing in Tulsa County; it is investing in Tulsa County’s future,” Tulsa County Commissioner Stan Sallee said. “Our county worked hard alongside our economic development partners to help bring this investment here. This didn’t happen by accident. It shows that Tulsa County can compete and win on a global stage while helping strengthen America’s technology infrastructure and economic competitiveness.”
Protecting local water supplies and supporting the community
Google is committed to growing responsibly alongside our communities. That’s why Project Clydesdale is funding and installing 1.5 miles of new water lines and infrastructure upgrades for Washington County Rural Water District #3, ensuring the project’s local neighbors benefit from a more robust and resilient water system.
“Project Clydesdale not only represents a major investment in powering essential technology but also significantly enhances local infrastructure by providing greater energy reliability, water system improvements and much needed roadway improvements,” said Rich Brierre, executive director of Indian Nations Council of Governments (INCOG).
Over the last few years, Google has contributed more than $2 million to support proven Tulsa County community partners such as Atlas School, The Opportunity Project, OSU-IT, Tulsa Innovation Labs, Foundation for Tulsa Schools and Tulsa Regional STEM Alliance. Google and Beale plan to support the region’s rich heritage and promising future by working with local leaders and elders to launch new community investments and expand existing partnerships in education, next-generation workforce development, small business support, and digital access.
“Google’s investment in the Owasso area is a transformational moment for our economic development landscape,” said Chelsea L. Feary, president and CEO of the Owasso Chamber of Commerce & Economic Development.
“It strengthens our position as a region that can compete for major, future-focused investment while bringing new jobs, infrastructure improvements and long-term benefits for Owasso Public Schools and our broader business community.”
“We are excited to see Google expand its physical network infrastructure into the Tulsa Tech School District,” said Steve Tiger, superintendent and CEO of Tulsa Tech. “Not only do we train the builders of buildings like this new Google data center, but we also help train the technicians operating the systems inside.”
For a related story, please click here.
Data center rendering courtesy of Kimley-Horn.
About Google in Oklahoma
Learn more about Google’s support for local organizations at datacenters.google and Google’s economic impact in Oklahoma at economicimpact.google/state/ok.
About Beale Infrastructure
Beale Infrastructure develops digital infrastructure for the world’s leading technology companies, partnering closely with customers, communities and utilities to enable innovative data center solutions with sustainable long-term impact. For more information about Beale, please visit www.bealeinfra.com.
About the Tulsa Regional Chamber
Representing 2,000 member organizations and more than 170,000 workers, the Tulsa Regional Chamber is the primary driver of regional and individual prosperity in northeast Oklahoma. The Chamber develops and delivers a wide variety of programs and services designed to bolster and benefit Tulsa-area businesses of all shapes and sizes, from large corporations to small startups. For more than 120 years, the Chamber has served as an integral part of what makes the Tulsa region a great place to live, work and play. As epitomized by the Chamber tagline – “Your Partner in Prosperity” – every strategy, program and service of the Chamber is created specifically to increase prosperity.
The Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE) named the Tulsa Regional Chamber the nation’s best chamber in 2005, 2008, 2010 and 2020. The Chamber has been recognized three times by the Oklahoma Quality Foundation (OQF), including receipt of OQF’s Award for Commitment to Excellence in 2019. The Chamber holds three prestigious accreditations: five-star accreditation from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; accredited economic development organization through the International Economic Development Council (IEDC); and accredited destination marketing organization (Visit Tulsa) through Destinations International (DI). The Chamber also houses the Tulsa Office of Film, Music, Arts & Culture (Tulsa FMAC), Oklahoma’s only accredited city film commission through the Association of Film Commissioners International (AFCI). The Chamber-housed Tulsa Sports Commission is accredited through Sports ETA.
For more information, visit tulsachamber.com.
Beale Infrastructure is honored to add our name to the Ratepayer Protection Pledge, further reinforcing our commitment as a Community First developer.
More than two dozen data center developers, 150+ utilities and cooperatives, and 23 state governors share in this principle that the infrastructure we build should never turn into a line item on someone else’s electric bill.
As a developer, our commitment to this is concrete. It means the power and delivery infrastructure a project requires gets paid for as part of the build, not passed on to the community around it. It means investing in the communities and local workforces where we build.
Beale’s model has been and will continue to be driven by developing projects that ensure communities and their residents thrive. In doing so, our projects are developed to deliver significant economic and community impacts that enhance the existing quality of life and protect ratepayers.
Read more about the Ratepayer Protection Pledge here.
SAN FRANCISCO — July 16, 2026 — Beale Infrastructure (“Beale”) today announced that
Hanns Lee has joined the company as Chief Development Officer. Mr. Lee is a veteran
real estate executive with 30 years of institutional leadership experience, further
strengthening Beale’s executive team as the company accelerates its buildout of digital
infrastructure projects across North America.
Beale was established in 2024 to address surging demand for responsibly sited data
centers, energy, and infrastructure. The company partners with utilities, local
governments, and community stakeholders to enable digital infrastructure projects that
respect local growth priorities and environmental constraints. Beale is a portfolio company
of funds managed by Blue Owl Capital, one of the world’s largest private investors in
digital infrastructure.
“Sustainability isn’t an afterthought at Beale – it drives site selection strategy and
evaluations with communities,” said Ayla Matthews, Managing Director at Blue Owl Capital
and Co-Founder & Member of the Board of Directors at Beale. “Hanns is a distinguished
real estate and sustainability leader and brings three decades of experience forging
community partnerships and scaling portfolios. He joins Beale at the perfect moment to
drive execution across several gigawatts of near-term projects.”
Prior to Beale, Mr. Lee served as Senior Managing Director at Hines, overseeing
development and asset management for Northern California. Across a two-decade career
with Hines, his previous roles also included Head of Flex Workplace Services and
Managing Director in Hines’ Office of Innovation. Earlier in his career, Mr. Lee held
executive leadership positions at the Irvine Company and Lowe Enterprises. He is a
former U.S. Army officer who served on active duty in Europe and Africa attaining the
rank of Captain.
“I’ve spent my career building teams and projects that outlast any one market cycle, and
Beale’s community-first approach to data center development reflects those same
business principles,” said Mr. Lee. “This moment calls for developers who can build
projects the right way – responsibly, transparently, and with the lifecycle impacts in mind.
That’s what drew me to Beale.”
On May 18, 2026, the Claremore City Council held an extended public hearing and vote on a proposed multi-phase data center campus planned for the city’s existing industrial park. After a lengthy public comment period, the council’s own discussion offered a clear and detailed picture of the deal’s structure, and why several members ultimately supported it.
Here are some of the key takeaways.
A Rare, Self-Funded Revenue Opportunity
The city’s finance and administrative leadership were direct about a structural reality facing Oklahoma municipalities – cities in the state cannot collect property tax revenue. Because of that, officials explained, the real upside of a project like this comes through electricity sales and the sales tax applied to industrial power use. Once the project reaches full operating capacity, city administration projects roughly $15 to $16 million per year in new revenue, comparable to the entirety of the city’s current annual sales tax collections. Importantly, this comes without any increase to residential electric or water rates, since the agreement requires the developer to cover 100% of infrastructure upgrade costs.
Direct Investment Beyond the Tax Structure
Independent of the incentive framework, the development agreement includes a $250,000 annual community payment for the life of the project, plus two $2.5 million deposits earmarked for local quality-of-life initiatives, including the city’s parks master plan. City leadership emphasized these are dollars the city otherwise rarely has flexibility to spend, given how much of its budget is tied up in core infrastructure needs.
A Carefully Negotiated Incentive Structure, Not a Giveaway
Several council members walked through the mechanics of the proposed Tax Incentive District (TID) in detail, clarifying that it is fundamentally different from a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) in that it is a negotiated, in-lieu-of-property-tax arrangement that required unanimous sign-off from all eight affected taxing entities, including the local school district, county, and emergency services boards, each acting through their own public governing process. Council members were clear that this wasn’t something imposed on those entities, but an agreement those bodies chose to enter into after evaluating their own interests. Unlike a TIF, where a taxing entity typically waits years for a redirected revenue stream to repay infrastructure debt the city or authority had to take on, this structure asks nothing of the taxing entities upfront. Beale funds all required infrastructure directly, meaning schools, the county, and emergency services take on no financing risk or cost while still receiving a guaranteed negotiated payment on land that currently generates little to no tax revenue at all.
Addressing Community Concerns with Data, Not Assumptions
Council discussion pushed back on several widely circulated concerns. On water use, officials noted the facility’s air-cooled design would use an amount of water comparable to a couple of fast-food restaurants daily, far less than commonly assumed. On environmental and health concerns, several members pointed to over a decade of operating history at comparable data center facilities in the Tulsa region without documented adverse local health effects. On property values, officials cited regional reporting suggesting nearby property values have trended upward near existing data center developments, not downward. On power generation, city leadership confirmed there is no on-site gas or other generation planned or permitted under the agreement – all power is supplied through the existing utility infrastructure, with Beale funding all necessary substation and transmission upgrades.
Workforce and Long-Term Community Ties
Several building trade representatives and apprentices spoke about the project’s potential to keep skilled local workers employed close to home rather than traveling out of state for work, citing nearly two decades of experience partnering with data center construction projects in the region and the training pipelines these projects can support for the next generation of the local workforce.
A Deliberate, Multi-Year Process
Council members and city administration were clear that this proposal was the product of roughly two years of negotiation, review, and refinement, involving city planning, engineering, legal counsel, and all affected taxing jurisdictions, structured specifically to protect ratepayers and taxpayers from new costs while capturing new revenue for community priorities.
A Robust Public Debate
As with many large infrastructure and development proposals, the project drew a wide range of community reactions. The public hearing portion of the meeting included several hours of resident comments on both sides, with some speakers raising questions about environmental impact, property values, and the pace and transparency of the process. Council members acknowledged these concerns directly and described the final agreement’s terms, including infrastructure funding requirements and rate protections, as a direct response to public input gathered over the course of the process.
Following discussion, the council approved both the Tax Incentive District ordinance and the associated development agreement by a 6–3 vote, along with a series of related utility agreements needed to support the project’s power supply.
On January 6, 2026, the Marana Town Council held public hearings and votes on two related rezoning applications for a proposed 600-acre data center campus (Luckett Road North and Luckett Road South), representing what was described as the largest private capital investment in Southern Arizona’s history at roughly $5 billion. Both items ultimately passed by a 6-0 vote.
Here are the key takeaways from the discussion.
A Xero-Local-Incentive Deal
Unlike many large economic development projects, town staff and outside speakers repeatedly emphasized that this project requested no local incentives at all. Marana’s own job-creation incentive ordinance specifically excludes data centers from eligibility, and the applicant’s independent economic analysis was built without factoring in any town-level incentive offset. Instead, Beale is fully funding all required infrastructure, including an estimated $20 million road extension, $15-20 million potable water extension, $15-20 million wastewater extension, and a multimillion-dollar contribution toward a regional drainage channel, all of which become town-owned infrastructure once complete.
Substantial Projected Tax Revenue
An independent third-party economic analysis presented at the meeting projected $407 million in combined state, county, and local tax revenue over the first ten years of just the project’s first phase, including $145 million directly to the Town of Marana, roughly $25 million to the Marana school district, and over $15 million to the local fire district. Speakers translated these figures into concrete terms – the fire district noted that $1.5 million per year, a fraction of its projected share, would be enough to fully staff an entire new fire station.
Jobs and Workforce Commitments
The project is projected to generate approximately 4,200 construction jobs over the first phase (2026-2030) and 400 permanent on-site jobs (engineering, technical operations, and security roles). Multiple building trades unions – including electricians, ironworkers, carpenters, laborers, and painters – spoke in strong support of the project. They emphasized that current work often requires two-plus hour commutes each way to the Phoenix area or travel out of state, away from their families, and that a local project of this scale would let them work and build careers close to home. Beale representatives also described early partnerships with Pima Community College and the Marana Unified School District to build local training pipelines.
Addressing Water and Cooling Concerns Directly
The project is designed as a fully air-cooled, closed-loop system that will not use potable water for cooling. Beale stated this results in a 98% reduction in water use across the 600 acres compared to its current agricultural use (roughly 2,000 acre-feet/year today down to about 40 acre-feet/year), and confirmed they are not requesting any variance from Marana’s data center ordinance, which already prohibits use of the town’s potable water for cooling. Town staff confirmed this ordinance, adopted roughly a year prior partly at the recommendation of another Arizona municipality (Chandler), was the first of its kind in the state adopted proactively, before any data center project was proposed.
Utility Assurances on Rate Impacts
Representatives from both regional utilities, Trico Electric Cooperative and Tucson Electric Power (TEP), addressed the frequently raised concern that the project would raise electricity rates for existing residential customers. Both stated unequivocally that the data center’s infrastructure costs (substations and transmission lines) are being borne entirely by Beale, with financial guarantees such as letters of credit and bonds in place before construction begins. They also noted that a scheduled 2026 rate increase already implemented was based on 2022-2023 cost data unrelated to the data center. Both utilities’ representatives stated the additional stable revenue from the project could help push future base rate increases further out for existing customers, since fixed infrastructure costs would be spread across a larger sales base.
A Robust Public Debate
The meeting drew a large and vocal mix of supporters and opponents. Supporters included the Marana Chamber of Commerce, the school district superintendent, the Arizona Commerce Authority, the University of Arizona’s research leadership, the Arizona Technology Council, and numerous building trades members and local business owners. Opponents raised concerns including the indirect water footprint of generating the power needed to run the facility, the pace of new data center development regionally, questions about generator emissions and noise near the adjacent veterans cemetery, requests for a public referendum rather than a council vote, and broader questions about state-level tax incentive policy for data centers generally.
Council members and staff acknowledged these concerns as valid questions worth raising, while noting that the year-plus, proactive ordinance-drafting process the town had undertaken specifically to get ahead of these issues before any project was proposed.
Following discussion, both the Luckett Road North and Luckett Road South rezoning ordinances passed unanimously, 6-0, with one council member (a property owner on the south parcel) recused from the vote entirely.