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Apple buys land for data center in Prineville

By Kerry ONeal

It’s true that Apple purchased almost 160 acres of prime high desert in Prineville, Oregon (Here’s a link to the ktvz.com article).  As local leaders in data center land, we’ve been fielding a lot of calls about the purchase. It’s just one more sign that the data center industry is settling into Crook County. The allure of cheap available power and cold dry air has combined to bring a new industry to an area that needs it. It’s our expectation that Apple will open its’ heart and wallet and be the kind of good neighbor that Facebook has proven to be over the last year. (In case you want to see it with your own eyes, you can take a look at the actual deed showing Apple as the proud owners, below:)

As we move begin to put distance between the beginning of the real estate crash which started in late 2007, we’re starting to see more activity in both the residential and commercial real estate arena.  Not only have we seen (and been a part of) commercial land purchased in Bend, we’ve also seen multifamily properties purchased in Redmond, commercial land in Ashland, even light industrial property in Roseburg.  Though no offers yet, we’ve had increased interest from investors and home owners looking to make Bend and other parts of Oregon their destination for both their home and their investment portfolios.

For those of you who might have questions…..

Have a question about what a data center is? Feel free to get in touch with us.  In fact, if you or someone you know is looking to purchase real estate land, in Oregon or elsewhere, please let us know.  If you’d like to know if your land has the potential for future high-tech use, give us a call.  We love the technology world and we will do what we can to help:)

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Blog Posts Tagged With: Apple, datacenter, facebook, oregon commercial real estate, Prineville

The State of Oregon honors real estate property tax agreements with Facebook

By Catherine

Oregon real estate property taxes have become quite the subject of conversation lately.  Facebook purchased real estate in Prineville, Oregon as the location for its first data center.  For those of you not familiar with this situation, the Oregon Department of Revenue was previously trying to go back on its arrangement with Facebook regarding tax abatement for the tech giant.  When we first started working on the Facebook data center sale, Facebook was granted tax abatement as an incentive to bring their project (and over 200 construction jobs and at least 35 permanent jobs) to Central Oregon.  They are now moving in the right direction and it looks like legislation will be passed to help protect Oregon from losing crucial jobs and economic growth in areas desperately needing it.

Throughout the economic downturn, Crook County experienced extreme levels of unemployment and was one of the hardest hit counties in the state of Oregon.  Real estate values plummeted, jobs disappeared, and poverty struck with vengeance.  Waltzing in with wings, Facebook looked to be the trendsetter in making Crook County a haven for future tech company data center locations.  With cheap power, mild climate, and land large enough to support the buildings and their power needs, it looked as if there was finally hope at the end of the dark tunnel for Prineville and surrounding local communities.  Rather than supporting previously agreed upon terms and opening the door for area growth and prosperity, the Oregon Department of Revenue saw an opportunity to grab some extra cash.  What they didn’t consider was the other 4-5 companies considering Oregon as home to their data centers.  Several projects hit the brakes over concerns with the State doing the same thing to their projects.

Here’s the link to the article about Facebook and the State of Oregon: Oregon Senate OKs Facebook Tax Fix.

 

Filed Under: Blog Posts Tagged With: Central Oregon, data centers, datacenter, facebook

Facebook Datacenter Prineville Photo Tour

By Kerry ONeal

After working with the team to locate the Facebook Datacenter on a plot of my client’s land in Prineville, Oregon, they were kind enough to invite to me to the grand opening this last Spring. It was a great party with Mark Zuckerberg as the suprise guest of honor (for those that stayed at the party late enough for the surprise). However, one thing that the grand opening was noticeably missing was an actual tour of the facility.

 

Prineville Facebook Datacenter
My name tag from the Facebook Datacenter Grand Opening

You see, for whatever reason, the party was held in tents right outside the Prineville facility. There was a nice hosting station, plenty of heaters, good food, and a large illuminated “like” button at the entrance. But after working with the team to get the right amount of electricity, water, and land for what was going to be the most energy-efficient datacenter of its kind in the world, I kinda wanted to see what it was wall about.

Well, you can imagine my delight when I ran across this recent blog article with a Photo Tour of the Prineville Datacenter…and I must say it is even cooler than I imagined it. The post is from Robert Scoble‘s website and popular blog, Scobleizer. As reported, it is an enormous wind-tunnel with evaporative cooling. This was the plan from the start, but somehow, seeing these pictures, the real scale of it is dumbfounding. The gentleman giving the tour is Thomas (Tom) Furlong. Tom was always in the team that we met with during the Facebook scouting trips (or Vitesse as they were codenamed at the time.)

I find it interesting that Scoble was up here touring the Facebook Datacenter so recently. He works closely with Rackspace on their new Building43 project. Rackspace is one of the companies rumored to be looking for Prineville land for sale.

For those of you who are following up on rumors of our continued activity in the Prineville datacenter world, yes, we are in contract to bring the next large datacenter to the Prineville area. Stay tuned here and we will certainly post information when we are allowed to release it.

 

Filed Under: Blog Posts Tagged With: datacenter, facebook, prineville land for sale, Rackspace

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