Meta has filed to build a new data center at its campus in Gallatin, Tennessee.
The social media giant is looking to add a 278,000 sq ft (25,827 sqm) data center to its existing campus near Nashville with four data centers already in place, reports the Nashville Business Journal.
According to the company, the latest addition will bring Meta's total investment in Gallatin "well beyond" $1 billion since entering the area in 2020.
The campus already has two finished data center buildings, and another two are currently being constructed. The recent application for another building will bring the total data center space to 1.9 million sq ft (176,516 sqm), including a small amount of office space.
The data centers run on 100 percent renewable energy.
The project team working on the data center campus is made up of DPR Construction, Barge Design Solutions, and architect Burns McDonnell.
Gallatin's city planning commission will hold a public work session to discuss the project on April 29, though no votes will be taken during this meeting.
"They have this down to an art - building these data centers," Gallatin Economic Development Agency interim director Rosemary Bates said. "They have their own concrete batch plant and an electric substation with a direct feed from Tennessee Valley Authority."
"We’re happy they can go ahead and add this fifth building," Bates added. "They contribute a great deal to local non-profits and our school system."
Since beginning construction in 2020, Meta has donated around $1 million to Sumner County Schools. The campus is also poised to be the city's largest property tax contributor. While Meta negotiated tax discounts for the next 20 years, it will still provide tens of millions of dollars each year until then.
Bates added: "We are looking for companies that were going to contribute more to the tax revenue side than adding lots of jobs. We wanted low job numbers because unemployment is three percent or under. We weren’t necessarily looking for companies that were going to need 300 workers."
In April 2023, Meta was testing the use of mushrooms to break down drywall waste at its Gallatin campus.
According to Data Center Map, the Nashville region has 19 data centers Local operators include Flexential, Centersquare, EdgeConnex, TierPoint, H5 Data Centers, 365 Data Centers, Lumen, Windstream, and DataBank, among others.
