Samsung coming to Pinal County?

Kathryn Hardison of the Austin Business Journal contributed to this report.

Update: The Arizona State Land Department’s board voted Thursday to extend the appraisals for both the Goodyear site and the Queen Creek site, preventing the appraisals from expiring. The auctions were postponed a fourth time and are now scheduled for Sept. 16.

Original story: Two large parcels of Arizona land that had been identified as potential locations for Samsung’s $17 billion semiconductor manufacturing facility will go back up for auction one final time Thursday, as more signs point to the tech giant leaning toward expanding in the Austin, Texas metro.

The two parcels, one in Goodyear and one in Queen Creek, have gone up for Arizona State Land Department auction three times already, and all three times no bids have been placed. Thursday is the last time the land can be sold without going through another appraisal process, because the department’s board authorization of the appraisals expires July 19.

Samsung has been eyeing sites in Arizona, Texas and upstate New York for a new manufacturing plant. Sources with knowledge of the search said a site in Goodyear near Perryville and McDowell roads and a site in Queen Creek near Ironwood Drive and Germann Road were the locations the company was considering in Arizona.

The minimum bids set by the state for the Goodyear and Queen Creek sites were $127.71 million and $86.13 million, respectively. Both sites are designated foreign trade zones and both are zoned to allow industrial and manufacturing uses.

However, more signs point to Samsung likely headed to Central Texas. Samsung has applied for major incentives in Texas that have not been approved yet, but the company has indicated that the value of incentives will play a major role in the company’s decision, the Austin Business Journal has reported.

According to public records in Texas, Samsung is seeking $805 million in property tax abatements from the city of Austin and the state of Texas, and the company has applied for tax abatements from the local school district. A company, which has not been identified, has also applied for tax incentives in Taylor, Texas, another city that has been identified as one under consideration by Samsung.

On June 28, a spokeswoman for Samsung told the Austin Business Journal no decision had been made for the new location.