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Mortenson Construction has started work on a $55 million data center expansion in Prineville. The project, code-named “Castle Rock,” is taking place on 154 acres owned by Apple Inc. at 1600 S.W. Baldwin Road in the Prineville Industrial Complex, according to Crook County property records.

This is the second part of the first phase of a two-phase master plan expected to result in an ultimate investment between $160 million and $200 million, said Lou Haehnlen, a Crook County building official who declined to name the developer.

The $30 million first part of the first phase included an administration building – a 50-foot-wide, quarter-mile-long “spine” – and two connected “pods” containing data servers. The spine allows for efficient energy transfer in and out of the building, Haehnlen said, noting that ultimately, the building will have eight total pods.

A second building also is planned with a main spine connecting eight pods.

“What they’re doing now is building four of the pods that are 40,000 square feet apiece where they will put their servers in,” Haehnlen said. “Once they get those built, they will attach to the spine.”

Mortenson expects to finish the four-pod expansion by January, he said.