Report: Google Eyeing Data Center Expansion in Atlanta Suburbs

Google may be considering a $300 million data center expansion at its campus in Atlanta suburbs.

Douglas County officials recently approved a package of tax breaks for the potential project to entice the Mountain View, California-based internet giant to commit to the build, according to a local news report.

Companies like Google constantly expand their data center capacity around the world to support growth of their user base and roll-out of new products and services. State and local government officials use tax breaks to attract data center construction projects which are seen as strong drivers of local economic development.

Besides investment in real estate and equipment purchases, Google is also expected to add more than 25 jobs if it decides to go through with construction.

The Google data center deal approved by Douglas County officials would give the company a 10-year tax exemption from property taxes on equipment in the potential future data center and the real estate it will occupy. Google would have to agree to pay $1.2 million to the county over a period of two years in lieu of the tax payments.

The decision now reportedly lies with Google, which has to decide whether or not it will accept the deal.

The first Google data center in Lithia Springs, Georgia, launched in 2003. It is one of a handful of Google data center sites that use recycled water for all of their cooling needs.

Google has six data center locations in the U.S., one in Chile, two in Asia, and four in Europe.