A large data center project in southwest Washington has been given the initial green light by officials.
As reported by local press including the Tri-City Herald and Elkhorn Media Group, The Port of Walla Walla commission voted unanimously this week to sell 500 acres of land at its Wallula Gap Business Park to Advance Phase LLC for $32.5 million for its planned data center campus.
As reported earlier this month, Advance reportedly aims to develop a $4.8 billion campus totaling 16 buildings. The company intends to build its data centers in four phases of 125 acres each; each phase would feature four 215,000 square foot (19,975 sqm) buildings, for a total of more than 3.4 million sq ft (315,870 sqm).
The port knows the identity of the company operating behind the alias, but said it was bound by a nondisclosure agreement. The company behind Advanced is reportedly in top 30 of the Fortune 500 – which would count technology companies such as Amazon, Apple, Google-owner Alphabet, Microsoft, and Meta amongst the list of potentials.
Port staff reportedly began negotiating with the company a year ago under the code name ‘Project Tree.’
The port has previously described Advance Phase as an “American multinational technology company, engaged in e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence service.”
“They are a very sound company,” said Paul Gerola, the port’s economic development lead.
The Herald noted, however, that residents told the commission they were startled by the news of the project, and asked questions about the company’s identity, the power and water needs of the campus, and whether it would mine cryptocurrency. Officials said the site would not be a cryptomine facility.
Commissioner Schwab asked to delay the vote two weeks to give the community more time to absorb the scale of the deal. Her motion failed on a 2-1 vote.
The Wallula Gap Business Park is a 1,900-acre heavy industrial site adjacent to US Highway 12, Union Pacific Railroad mainline, and 10 miles from Interstate 395.
A January document from the port suggests there are multiple data center projects in the works within Walla Walla Port; the document makes references to Project Forest (100 acres), Project Network (30 acres), and Project Margarita (75 acres, from a Fortune 100 company) as business leads.
