Chuck Slothower//December 12, 2017//
Facebook announced Tuesday it will build two new data center buildings in Central Oregon.
The social-media giant said it will begin constructing its fourth data center in Prineville this month, and begin operating it in 2020. Ground will be broken on the fifth building in 2018 so that it can begin serving online traffic in 2021.
The two new buildings will span more than 900,000 square feet, the company said. Additional administrative space connecting the two buildings will add 70,000 more square feet.
The new projects represent a capital investment of hundreds of millions of dollars, according to Facebook. The company has already invested more than $1 billion in the Prineville Data Center.
Construction crews will be busy on the project for four more years, Facebook said. More than 200 people work full-time at the data center, according to the company.
The general contractor for the project is Fortis Construction, and the architect is Sheehan Nagle Hartray Architects, based in Chicago.
Facebook opened the first phase of the Prineville Data Center in 2011. The project was designed by Sheehan Nagle Hartray and built by DPR Construction of Redwood City, California, to Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design gold standards.