MALAGA — Microsoft Corporation filed permits in Chelan County for three buildings in Malaga, another move for the tech giant’s future.
Chelan-Douglas Regional Port Authority commissioners and staff discussed Microsoft, the filing and its reimbursable agreement for Malaga Water District work at the Tuesday board meeting. Jim Kuntz, port CEO, said the filing was “good news.”
“(The permit application) lays out everything they want to do,” Kuntz said. “Three buildings, each building 250,000 square feet.”
The three proposed buildings, or future data centers, will sit on 105 acres off of Malaga Alcoa Highway. Each building is slated to house an administrative area with data halls for “climatized storage of computer servers,” the application stated. A loading dock, employee parking, private on-site water storage tanks and exterior equipment yards were also listed in the application.
According to the application, construction is anticipated to start in 2023 for the first data center building and span 18 months. The other two data centers’ construction will be underway “as market demands warrant in a similar duration.” Work, such as site grading for the planned switchyard and transmission line construction, is expected to start in spring 2023 and last six months, according to the application.
The port is gearing to kickstart its $2.3 million water line extension work for the Malaga Water District system improvements in June, with a construction contract awarded. According to Stacie de Mestre, port public works and capital projects manager, the 5,000-foot-long, 18-inch water line is anticipated to be completed by late October — which is in line with the reimbursable agreement the port is in with Microsoft for Phase 1 of the system improvements.
Microsoft is in a reimbursement agreement with the port for necessary water improvements in the Malaga Water District to accommodate the incoming Microsoft data center site and expected growth in the area. The port signs the checks for the improvements and Microsoft reimburses the port.
