“Tech giant Apple Inc. confirmed Tuesday to NewsChannel 21 that it plans to build a data center at a 160-acre parcel in Prineville it just bought from Crook County for $5.6 million, a stone’s throw from the huge facility built by Facebook,” Ted Taylor and Barney Lerten report for KTVZ-TV.
“No one in Prineville or elsewhere had been able to speak on the record about the deal previously, due to non-disclosure agreements the company has had officials sign,” Taylor and Lerten report. “But the Feb. 15 filing is the first public document to identify Apple Inc. as the ‘Project Maverick’ buyer, complete with the ‘1 Infinite Loop’ address in Cupertino, Calif… Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet confirmed Tuesday that they purchased the land for a data center, but could not speak to details beyond that.”
“The deed was signed by county commissioners on Feb. 15 – the very day, and likely not a coincidence, that the Oregon Senate passed legislation to lift a property tax ‘cloud’ over data centers such as Facebook that are lured to enterprise zones in large part due to sizable property tax breaks,” Taylor and Lerten report. “Crook County Judge Mike McCabe said he was still bound by the non-disclosure agreement, though the filing left him a bit freer to talk. ‘We just don’t know what their plans are,’ McCabe said, adding that he’s ‘confident it will be good for Prineville and Crook County… These folks have been wonderful to work with. We will look forward to a long-term relationship with them..”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “BigDon” for the heads up.]
Related article:
Apple eyes Prineville, Oregon site for huge data center – December 4, 2011