Google Considering 2nd South Carolina Site

Google may yet build a second major data center project in South Carolina, but it won't happen this year, the company said Wednesday. Google announced in April that it will invest $600 million in a new data center in Goose Creek, South Carolina, just north of Charleston. At the time, the company confirmed that it was also scouting a large property in Blythewood for a second potential site in the state.

"We're still evaluating the (Blythewood) site," said Google spokesman Barry Schnitt. "We're definitely not going to build it this year. We were awaiting the granting of a wetlands permit from the Army Corps of Engineers. Now we have gotten the permit, and can proceed to the next phase of our analysis of the site."

An LLC associated with Google has submitted proposals for a data center on a 466-acre piece of land in Blythewood, which is a suburb of Columbia about 120 miles northwest of Google's Goose Creek project. The city of Columbia bought the property some years ago for a proposed Lucent plant, and has not yet sold it to Google.

Google's proposal includes changes on 14 acres of wetlands on the Blythewood site. The company filed paperwork with the Army Corps in January outlining a complex with data centers, electrical substations and cooling towers. The Army Corps approved the permit on June 30, and Schnitt said Google is reviewing the permit and its plans.

The Google facility at Goose Creek will be on a 520-acre site at the Mount Holly Commerce Park, and create 200 jobs paying an average salary of $48,000 per year.