Facebook to build two massive data centers in Oregon

Dive Brief:

Facebook announced it will build two massive data centers on its Prineville, OR, campus, adding to its previous $1 billion-plus investment there, according to The Oregonian.
The social media giant's two new facilities will total 970,000 square feet, bringing total data center and cold storage space to almost 2.2 million square feet. Prineville officials said Facebook construction and operations have provided jobs for residents who worked in other now-defunct industries and have helped to reduce the county's unemployment rate from 20% during the Great Recession to its current rate of 6.5%.
The city will provide tax incentives beyond the $71.6 million it has already given Facebook since 2012.

Dive Insight:

Facebook's enterprise-level facilities are a holdover from when it was the norm for big companies to handle their own data operations. Today, the industry has shifted to more colocated data centers — third-party facilities that host several companies' servers in the same place and provide the necessary bandwidth, space and equipment.

According to Curt Holcomb, executive vice president of data center solutions at real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle's (JLL) Dallas offices, colocation market growth is outpacing that of enterprise centers. More still, Holcomb said, most Fortune 500 companies have already made the shift to third-party services. With that shift comes bigger facilities ranging from 150,000 square feet to 600,000 square feet. Though the average enterprise data center typically tops out at around 250,000 square feet, Holcomb said, companies like Facebook regularly exceed that number.

Last month, Facebook announced that it would increase the investment in its data center operations in Los Lunas, NM, to $1 billion, tripling the size of the facilities there. In total, the company will build six, $250-million, 510,000-square-foot buildings there. In a $45 million ancillary deal, the local Public Service Company of New Mexico will build solar power plants to power the campus.

As in Prineville, Facebook will receive tax breaks for building the project in Los Lunas. The state has committed to a $30 billion, 30-year property tax concession. Facebook will also get $10 million in local grants, $3 million in job training funding and up to $1.6 million a year in gross receipts tax reimbursements.