Facebook plans to expand its data center campus in Prineville, Oregon, adding two more buildings to the site.
Prineville is currently home to 1.25 million square feet (116,128 sq m) of Facebook facilities spread across three buildings, with the two new buildings adding 900,000 sq ft (83,613 sq m), plus 70,000 sq ft (6,503 sq m) for an administrative space connecting them.
Facebook prepares for a future filled with more Facebook
The social network plans to break ground on the first new data center this month, with the aim of it being operational by 2020. The second site will break ground in 2018 and come online in 2021.
In a blog post, Facebook’s West Region data center operations head, KC Timmons, said that the new buildings “will represent a capital investment of hundreds of millions of dollars, which is in addition to the more than $1 billion we have already invested in the Prineville Data Center.”
“This translates into keeping construction crews busy for another four years, plus additional full-time jobs as the data halls come online. As of September 2017, the Prineville Data Center supports more than 200 people working full-time, with approximately 75 percent living in Crook County.”
The investment comes after Facebook successfully secured substantial tax breaks for its third Prineville data center back in 2015. Prior to that, Facebook received property tax exemptions which saved it $30 million in three years, according to Crook County.
Prineville is home to Facebook’s first custom built data center, opened in 2011. The company, which has grown substantially since then, now operates several huge data center campuses, including in Forth Worth, Texas; Los Lunas, New Mexico; Altoona, Iowa; Luleå, Sweden; and Clonee, Ireland.
It is also building new data centers in New Albany, Ohio; Odense, Denmark; Henrico County, Virginia and Papillion, Nebraska.