Microsoft will invest at least $677.6 million in the expansion of its data centre in West Des Moines, Iowa, undertaking the third initiative of this kind at the facility to meet the growing demand for cloud services.
The project is a collaborative effort involving the Greater Des Moines Partnership, the city of West Des Moines and the state of Iowa. Announcing the investment on its website, the partnership said that site preparation was expected to commence later in the summer and construction is scheduled to begin in late 2013, providing work to more than 200 people for the duration of building activities. Completion is expected before the close of 2015 and the expanded facility will create 29 new jobs. Earlier this month the city council of West Des Moines approved local incentives for the project, and last week the Iowa Economic Development Authority Board sanctioned state incentives making Microsoft eligible for tax credits of up to $20 million.
|