Google announced a $600 million expansion that will bring the company’s estimated total investment in the Columbia Gorge up to $1.2 billion.
Design plans filed with the city show Google’s expansion plans to include a two-story, 164,000-square-foot building. From www.oregon4biz.com
Google currently operates two data centers, 94,000-square-feet each, the first of which was built in 2006 and now has 80 employees plus 70 contractors working on food service, security and in various technical roles.
The company plans to utilize the locally managed Enterprise Zone advantages that will reduce its tax burden, as they did in 2006. Google’s initial project provided a $280,000 initial payment and a $250,000 annual payment.
That agreement remains in force covering Google’s existing two data centers. For this new project, the company agreed to a $1.2 million up-front payment to fund local community improvement projects, plus $800,000 a year afterward, to be split among the city of The Dalles, Wasco County and Northern Wasco County School District No. 21.
