VISA chooses Austin for new IT center

AUSTIN (KXAN) - The credit card company, VISA, has chosen Austin for its planned global information technology center.

Last week, the Austin City Council unanimously approved granting the company a $1.5 million incentive package to establish the facility in Northwest Austin.

The center will be in the Research Park Plaza off U.S. 183 in a leased 175,000-square-feet office space, with a capital investment of $27 million. The project will create 794 jobs over the next five years, of which the average salary will be approximately $96,000.

Earlier, the city's Economic Growth and Redevelopment Services office presented a proposal to Austin City Council in a special meeting on Wednesday about incentives and benefits it suggests the city give VISA.

Read the presentation documents.

Under the deal, Visa must invest $18.7 million in property improvements, move into a building and open it as its proposed information technology center.

VISA is a 36-year-old payments technology company with headquarters in Foster City, Calif., with 18 locations in the U.S. and 70 in other countries.