Google going great guns; here comes another one
Contractors at the new Google data center site were busy this afternoon, Nov. 28. The walls for the first of two data centers were erected for the first 288,000-square-foot facility months ago. Google’s contractor Whiting-Turner has now submitted a second request to site and construct the second data center at 290,000 square feet to the City of The Dalles planning department.
By Tom Peterson
The Dalles, Ore., Nov. 28, 2023 - It has been a year since Google received its first green light to build the first of two data centers at 3500 River Road in the Port of The Dalles.
Here we go again.
The Dalles Community Development Director Joshua Chandler sent out the notice today, Nov. 28, of the request to site and construct the second, single-story data center at 290,000 square feet.
Click here for the application.
Written comments for or against the proposal will be accepted for 14 days and are due by 5:00 p.m., December 12, 2023, in The Dalles Community Development Office, 313 Court Street.
The request to site and construct was made by Whiting-Turner construction, which is the general contractor for the development.
The property is owned by Design LLC, a company owned by Google.
It will be the fifth such data center for Google in The Dalles, and its construction has been estimated to cost as much as $600 million to develop.
The application comes after years of negotiations where a team of city and county members put together a two-data center package that will bring up to $125 million in estimated new property taxes and fees, according to The Dalles Mayor Rich Mays.
Here is a locater map showing approximately where Google’s fifth data center in The Dalles will be constructed if it gains approvals.
The agreement abates an estimated $147 million in property taxes during the 20-year term of the deal which was struck in November 2021 with the City and Wasco County.
At the same time, the agreement for the two centers captures 50 percent of property taxes on the first data center and 60 percent on the second. That is far more than past Google deals for data centers in The Port of The Dalles, according to local officials.
Click here to read our story on Google payment negotiations with the City of The Dalles and Wasco County.
Click here to see where the community service fee money will go.
Signing Bonus
Google’s company Design LLC will pay a one-time $3 million initial payment for each data center, payable within 60 days of the submission of first tax years construction in process exemption form for each data center building or before taking occupancy of the building.
At this time, City Manager Matthew Klebes said Google has yet to make any payment within the Strategic Investment Plan agreement. But noted the company could be making its first $3 million payment on the first data center early next year.
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