Google gets another Go: Second Data Center Garners TD City approval
Work at new Google Data Center at 3500 River Road in November 2023.
By Tom Peterson
The Dalles, Ore., Jan. 25, 2024 — Call it a two-for-two.
Google just received the green light to build the second of two data centers at 3500 River Road in the Port of The Dalles within the past two years.
The Dalles Community Development Director Joshua Chandler sent out the notice today announcing the approval to site and construct the second, single-story data center at 290,000 square feet.
The approval was given to Whiting-Turner construction, which is the general contractor for the development.
The property is owned by Design LLC, a company owned by Google.
It will be the fifth such data center for Google in The Dalles, and its construction has been estimated to cost as much as $600 million to develop.
The application comes after years of negotiations where a team of city and county members put together a two-data center package that will bring up to $125 million in estimated new property taxes and fees, according to The Dalles Mayor Rich Mays.
Here is a locater map showing approximately where Google’s fifth data center in The Dalles will be constructed.
The agreement abates an estimated $147 million in property taxes during the 20-year term of the deal which was struck in November 2021 with the City and Wasco County.
At the same time, the agreement for the two centers captures 50 percent of property taxes on the first data center and 60 percent on the second. That is far more than past Google deals for data centers in The Port of The Dalles, according to local officials.
Click here to read our story on Google payment negotiations with the City of The Dalles and Wasco County.
Click here to see where the community service fee money will go.
Signing Bonus
Matthew Klebes
Google’s company Design LLC will pay a one-time $3 million initial payment for each data center, payable within 60 days of the submission of the first tax year’s construction in process exemption form for each data center building or before taking occupancy of the building.
At this time, City Manager Matthew Klebes said Google has yet to make any payment within the Strategic Investment Plan agreement. But noted the company could be making its first $3 million payment on the first data center this year, and the second payment could follow in 2025.
The payments are triggered when Google submits a state “construction and process form” with Business Oregon, the state agency overseeing enterprise zones.
Community Fee Payments, Guaranteed Annual Fee Payments and reduced property taxes will not be paid by Google on either of the two new data centers until the projects are complete.
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