In mid-April, Google purchased 1,210 acres of land in the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center (TRI) for $29.1 million.
Technically, it was $29,096,190.95 plus tax, but who’s counting?
Rumors abound as to the intended use of the land, but according to Google spokespeople, the land will be used for a data center.
The new data center will be the largest project of its kind in the world, though there’s no start date and very few details publicly available as to construction plans.
In other words, don’t hold your breath, but keep an eye on things anyway.
Lance Gilman, the flamboyant head of the brokerage firm that owns TRI, had a few things to say about the purchase:
An incredible event for the entire region. I know some in the global tech world were thinking ‘well, perhaps the Tesla deal was a one-off.’ Then TRI added Switch, the largest colocation data storage company on the globe, and heads turned, and now Google. TRI, Storey County, and Northern Nevada are in the center of the world stage for tech company development. We’ve heard some tech media outlets are referring to the I-80/USA Parkway area as the ‘Tech Corridor’ now that Google, Switch, Tesla, Apple and Rack Space are all in that vicinity. And don’t forget, we are already home to tech giants like Zullily, Jet.com and Amazon here with their fulfillment center facilities.
We’ve got some opinions about the center of the world stage for tech development, too, but we’re maybe a little biased.
Seriously, though, some cool things are happening in the Tech Corridor.
One thing that won’t be happening, despite rumors, is self-driving car testing on Google’s new property. According to their spokespeople, that’s not something they’re planning to do on that site.
Las Vegas was one of the first cities where self-driving cars were tested, by the way, and Nevada was the first state to legalize them on public roadways.
Other tech companies are eyeing land in TRI now that it’s gaining a reputation as a technology hub.
Already, TRI is home to the largest data center building in the world, which is owned by Switch.
(By the way, Switch also has a data center in Las Vegas, and their Innevation Center is one of the most popular places for the tech community to meet, learn, and network.)
Google’s purchase so far is just a purchase, and it’s leaving people with a lot of questions.
We’ll keep you posted as we learn more.