Another huge Hillsboro data center will start construction this summer

Data center operator Flexential said Thursday it will build its third large data center in Hillsboro, Ore., occupying 358,000 square feet on 20 acres along U.S. 26.

Property tax breaks made Hillsboro a hub of data center construction over the past decade and the massive facilities occupy a growing share of the city’s industrial land. Tax breaks saved Hillsboro data centers $8.5 million over the past two years through the city’s enterprise zone program for tax exemptions, according to state records.

Data centers don’t employ many people, though. Just 86 worked in all of Hillsboro’s data centers during 2016, working out to more than $36,000 in tax breaks per job.

Hillsboro began limiting data centers’ tax windfall in 2016 but construction has continued anyway. In February, Japanese technology giant NTT said it will repurpose most of Hillsboro’s old SolarWorld factory as a data center.

Flexential was previously known as ViaWest, and was among the first data center operators to move into Hillsboro. The company said its new, 36-megawatt facility will double the size of the company’s Hillsboro operations.

Flexential, like most Hillsboro data centers, leases space in its facilities to other companies seeking computing power and storage. Its clients include Major League Baseball and Dropbox.

The value of Flexential’s tax breaks will depend on how much its clients spend on computers for the facility.