ALTOONA, Iowa (AP) — A Des Moines suburb has approved a $400 million development agreement with social media giant Facebook for construction of another data center building.
The nearly 1 million-square-foot building (90,000 square meters) would be the fifth Facebook has erected in Altoona.
The City Council’s decision will make the building exempt from property taxes for 20 years. But Facebook has agreed to pay a yearly fee of nearly 60% of what it would otherwise have paid in property taxes.
Facebook also will pay for the construction of a $500,000 pump station that will boost the water pressure for the data center and other structures in the area.
Officials say the new building is expected to bring 70 new jobs to Altoona.
Facebook has other data centers across the world, including in Sweden, Ireland, North Carolina and Texas.
Facebook’s headquarters is in Menlo Park, California, south of San Francisco.
