City Approves Google rebuild of original 2006 data center in Port of The Dalles
Google demolition at 4200 Columbia Road in the Port of The Dalles last week.
By Tom Peterson
The Dalles, Ore., Aug. 4, 2026 — Google is moving ahead on a complete reboot of its data center at 4200 Columbia Road — it’s very first in The Dalles — as the company has applied for and received approval to build a new 77,000- square- foot building on the existing data center site in the Port of The Dalles.
The City of The Dalles approved the administrative site plan review Monday, allowing The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company to construct the new building and supporting infrastructure at 4200 Columbia Road, the site of Google's original data center. The property is owned by Design LLC, a Google-affiliated company.
The approval follows months of demolition work at the campus, where crews removed aging electrical, mechanical equipment, before breaking up and hauling away much of the original building and slab. CCCNews has documented demolition activity at the site throughout the summer.
View of the site prior to demolition.
Unlike Google's two new River Road data centers, which operate under Oregon's Strategic Investment Program, the rebuilt Columbia Road facility appears likely to return to the regular Wasco County property tax rolls once construction is complete and the building receives a certificate of occupancy.
If that occurs, property taxes generated by the building would flow through the normal tax system, benefiting local taxing districts including schools, fire districts, libraries, the Port of The Dalles, the city, Wasco County and other public agencies.
Interim Wasco County Commissioner Rodger Nichols said the project appears to benefit local taxpayers.
"I'm thinking this is a good deal with our tax districts," Nichols said Tuesday morning. "There will be no new disturbance of ground and this did not even require a notification to neighboring landowners."
That’s good news for the following taxing districts:
City of The Dalles
Mid-Columbia Fire & Rescue
Wasco County Library District
North Wasco Parks & Recreation District
Wasco County 4-H and Extension
Wasco County Soil and Water Conservation District
Port of The Dalles
Wasco County
The original Columbia Drive facility operated for 15 years under a Strategic Investment Program agreement that reduced property taxes in exchange for negotiated payments to local governments. The building was placed on the regular tax rolls after that agreement expired, generating approximately $5.1 million in property taxes in 2022 before its assessed value declined as preparations began for redevelopment to $3.6 million in 2024 and $4.7 million in 2025.
Given current inflation rates and costs for new construction, it is more than likely that the new facility will come onto the property roles with a higher valuation for taxation - however, that will not be known until assessments are complete after construction and the issuance of a certificate of occupancy.
Another shot of the Google Data Center prior to demolition.
Last June, demolition permits brought to light the plans to refurbish the aging facility by removing obsolete equipment and preparing the site for future upgrades supporting Google products and Google Cloud services.
At the time, company spokesman Chris Mussett said the work was part of a long-term modernization effort.
"We're preparing to refurbish our first-ever data center campus in The Dalles, which opened in 2006," Mussett told CCCNews in 2025. "This is part of a routine plan to remove dated equipment to make way for new upgrades supporting our products and Google Cloud customers."
The city's approval includes standard conditions requiring final engineering review, utility verification, parking improvements, landscaping, bicycle parking and other site requirements before building permits can be issued and before the facility can begin operating.
The administrative decision may be appealed through Aug. 17.
