Earlier this week, it was reported that Apple was planning an expansion of its Reno data center, with the company awaiting city approval. Today, the Reno City Council officially approved Apple’s proposal for a $1 billion expansion…
Apple plans to spend an additional $1 billion to expand its existing data center in Reno and while it will mainly focus on expanding the data center, it will also invest in a shipping and receiving warehouse. The company will purchase a vacant lot on the corner of Evans Avenue and Fifth Street in downtown Reno for its warehouse. Apple will spend roughly $4 million building the shipping and receiving warehouse, which will allow it to cut the sales tax rate it pays on its equipment to 0.5 percent.
Furthermore, while Apple usually doesn’t put signage of any sort on its “high security” buildings like data centers, it will put branding on the warehouse in an effort to appease the Reno city council.
As noted by the Reno Gazette Journal, Apple’s director of state and local government affairs Mike Foulkes announced the new efforts today. Foulkes explained that Apple’s $1 billion investment in the data center will create “hundreds of jobs in construction and operation.”
Apple began its data center efforts in Reno way back in 2012, investing $1 billion into the project. Over years, the project has evolved and expanded with rumors of today’s new $1 billion expansion first originating over a year ago. The data center, known as Project Mills, consists of 14 building combining for over 412,00 square feet of space. The center is responsible for Apple’s cloud services like iCloud, iTunes, and the App Store.
At this point, it’s unclear as to what exact changes will be made with today’s new $1 billion investment, but Apple will likely continue to increase the overall size and scope of its Reno data center.
Location of Apple’s proposed half city block of land purchase in Washoe County
