Google may invest $600 million to expand its Caldwell County data center and add as many as 30 jobs after local officials agreed to an incentives deal this week.
Google’s proposed expansion is on about 60 acres adjacent to its Lenoir campus that opened in 2007 with a reported $1.2 billion investment. It now employs 400 at the site.
The project isn’t confirmed, but appears likely to occur, says Ashley Bolick, director of Caldwell County Economic Development. She said the state of North Carolina is not part of the local incentives agreement.
“We don’t think they would be making this agreement without being serious,” she notes.
“While we do not have a confirmed timeline for development for the site, we want to ensure we have the option to further grow should our business demand it,” Google said in a statement to the Charlotte Observer, which wrote about the expansion today.
Caldwell and nearby Catawba and Rutherford counties form a major data center hub with operations owned by Apple, Facebook, Microsoft and others. The centers require significant amounts of electric power and water, both of which had been used historically by the region’s once-dominant textiles and furniture employers.
The data center industry is undergoing a major growth spurt because of soaring use of artificial intelligence. Over the past year, Duke Energy has raised its forecast of demand for power sharply, citing the growth of such operations.
Under the agreement, Google could receive performance-based rebates for 50% for real property taxes and 85% personal property taxes over 20 years. The deal hinges on proof of performance.
Lenoir has closed part of a local street to enable the Google expansion and is providing more water capacity. Google says it will contribute $6.8 million to ensure adequate water flow.
The assessed tax value of Google’s Lenior operation is now about $1.2 billion, including subsidiary Tapaha Dynamics, Bolick said. It’s the largest taxpayer in Caldwell County.
Google’s owner, Alphabet, is among the world’s most valuable companies with a market value of $2 trillion and annual revenue of $307 billion last year.
