Apple has put in a request to extend the deadline to finish its 400,000 sq ft (37,000 sq m) data center in Waukee, Iowa, by five-years, the Des Moines Register reports.
In a letter to the Iowa Economic Development Authority, Apple’s senior tax director, Terry Ryan, said the company needed more time to design and build its facility.
Ryan asked to push the project completion date to August 2027 instead of the current timeframe of August 2022. The facility is meant to cost around $1.3bn and the company has so far only spent about $130m on the data center. According to the register, the company donated $500,000 for public improvement projects at the local Youth Sports Complex and has given $1m to the Waukee Betterment Foundation.
Back in 2017, the Economic Development Authority awarded $20m in tax incentives to Apple. The Economic Development Authority will decide whether to grant the extension during a board meeting today.
Apple's troubles with data centers
Apple has had issues with several developments in the past; most recently, the tech giant has had to cancel two European projects in Ireland and Scandinavia.
The firm canceled its plans for a facility in Aabanraa, Denmark (near the German border), this was in order to focus on getting its other Danish facility, Viborg, off the ground after construction stalled and the laborers went home.
Previously, Apple had a tumultuous time in Ireland. Usually supported by the local population, the company was instead bogged down in legal battles with local businesses environmentalists. The result saw the company abandon a 320,000 sq ft (29,729 sq m) site in County Galway.
Despite initially winning planning permission to build the data center and electrical substation, it was challenged by opponents who cited environmental concerns. The initial plan for the site was quickly approved by Galway County Council, but appeals kept bringing the case back to the Irish planning board (An Bord Pleanála) and the Commercial Court. It was approved in 2015, 2016 and 2017.
The facility was meant to be operational by 2017 but instead Apple pulled the plug after multiple legal challenges that went on years.
