On November 1, 2019, Holder Construction began the start of Google’s new data center in New Albany, Ohio.
Cost & trend
Google will be the third major tech company to build a facility in this Ohio suburb. The new project will be built over 440 acres and is expected to be completed by 2021. The cost is estimated at $600 million.
Facebook recently added 415 acres last month to their data farms. Facebook first investment in New Albany data centers was in 2017. Amazon spent $1.1 billion on facilities in central Ohio three years prior.
Why New Albany?
Data centers require massive warehouses that are used to host IT operations. Thousands of servers are stored in one data center for distributing data online. New Albany and Central Ohio offer huge taxed cuts and an abundant source of electrical power as an incentive.
New Albany’s incentive package for google included 100% property tax abatement for 15 years and agreed to waive up to $250,000 in building and permitting fees. The state of Ohio also is offering tax incentives to further draw the tech giants. The Ohio Tax Credit Authority also approved a 100%, 15-year exemption on sales taxes for data centers that would be worth $43.5 million over the life the credit and renewable for up to 40 years, according to Columbus Business First.
Insight
The New Albany location is part of Google’s $13 billion 2019 expansion plan that calls for seven new data centers. Nevada, Texas and Oklahoma are among other locations announced.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai said that additional office and data center growth in Northern Virginia, known as “Data Center Alley,” would double the company’s workforce there.
Atlanta based Holder Construction, is a leading builder of data centers. They are also known for constructing the Iron Mountain facility in Phoenix.
