Apple has begun work on the first phase of its Prineville data center, which will include clearing and flattening the land for one of two 330,000 square-foot buildings. Each building is said to be more than twice the size of a typical Costco store, and this initial phase of construction alone is expected to cost Apple $68 million.
And building may not stop there. Apple outlined two sections on its plans that were labeled “Future Development Area,” which provide space for more buildings later on if the Cupertino company sees a need for them.
The total cost of the facility, including its servers, is expected to cost Apple “hundreds of million or billions of dollars” once it’s complete.
Apple paid Crook County $5.6 million for 160 acres of land back in February, and then set up a small, 10,000 square-foot modular data center on the site. Only this facility will be visible from the street, OregonLive reports.
Apple has revealed that the Prineville date center will eventually employ “hundreds” of people once it’s finished, but it’s unclear when the first building is scheduled to open.
Thanks to its moderate power prices and big tax breaks, Oregon is a popular place for data centers. In addition to Apple, Amazon, Adobe, Google, and Facebook have data facilities there.
Source: OregonLive