Google Planning $600M Expansion Of Key Midwest Data Center Hub

Google will spend more than a half-billion dollars to expand its data center campus in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

The $600M project will mark a significant addition to Google’s already-massive campus in the Omaha, Nebraska, suburb of Council Bluffs, a facility in which the tech giant has already invested more than $5B. Google’s Iowa expansion plans were unveiled Friday when state regulators approved a tax incentive package for the project, the Des Moines Register reported.

Set to break ground in the coming weeks, Google’s Council Bluffs expansion is expected to be operational by the end of 2024, according to the Register. It is the third major addition to the campus Google has operated since 2007, with previous expansions in 2012 and 2015.

The company says the project will create the need for 31 new jobs at the facility in addition to its current 250-person workforce. The hiring is a requirement of a deal with the city of Council Bluffs, through which Google is receiving $16.6M in property tax breaks. 

The additional build-out in Council Bluffs isn't the only data center development Google is undertaking in the greater Omaha area. The company announced in April that it is planning a new data center just over the Nebraska border in northwest Omaha. 

While Google may be building in Nebraska, too, it is Iowa that has seen a wave of data center campus developments by major cloud and social media providers.

Microsoft operates a cluster of data center campuses near Des Moines and is in the process of building more. The company is planning on spending over $1B building out its Iowa facilities, according to Data Center Dynamics. Meta’s Campus in Altoona, Iowa, is now its largest campus in the world, with an expansion set to push it north of 5M SF.

Apple is coming to Iowa too. The company began construction on 2,000 acres in the town of Waukee this spring, although the project has seen multiple postponements and will likely not be operational until at least 2027.

A big part of Iowa’s appeal for hyperscalers is the availability of renewable energy, a growing priority as the world’s largest tech companies attempt to meet carbon reduction goals. Iowa’s power grid uses a higher percentage of renewable energy than any other state at 57%, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.