Omaha Forums

Lure of data center spurs Papillion to approve fast-track annexation of land

Per Hailey Konnath / World-Herald staff writer:

Steps taken to proceed with Sarpy data center; company involved has not been identified yet

http://www.omaha.com/news/metro/steps-t ... f659e.html

Neighboring landowners Kelly and Rod Jeck, who own seven acres of land east of the data center property, previously have aired concerns about the size and construction of the proposed center.

The project’s mixed-use development agreement lists several ways in which the company plans to address the couple’s qualms. Among other measures, lighting is prohibited from the data center’s perimeter fence, a maximum sound level will be respected and garbage receptacles will be kept out of view of neighboring properties.

Does anyone know what is on the land that these people own that they are concerned about seeing the dumpsters from the data center? I thought all the construction out in that area was industrial for the most part.

I didn't click the link, just looked at that map photo. If you lookup their address, it does not border the red area in the map the OP posted. So I'm not sure why those specific people would be concerned.

There is a neighborhood directly to the east of the red zone and those people should probably be more concerned with the development.

President and CEO of the Greater Omaha Chamber David Brown, was just on Grow Omaha and mentioned a new project that will be announced in the First Quarter of this year. He mentioned it will be one of the largest projects in the Omaha area. Anyone hear any rumors on this?

Data center on Highway 50. Rumored to be Facebook.

OmahaJaysCU wrote:Data center on Highway 50. Rumored to be Facebook.

Ah, yes...

Lure of data center spurs Papillion to approve fast-track annexation of land

I spoke with Joseph Young of the Nebraska Chamber the other day asking about this location, if he could tell me whether the Data Center would be Facebook or not, and he said he could neither confirm nor deny this, but it will be announced within the month.

Coyote wrote:I spoke with Joseph Young of the Nebraska Chamber the other day asking about this location, if he could tell me whether the Data Center would be Facebook or not, and he said he could neither confirm nor deny this, but it will be announced within the month.

Wowzers..

If true, this would be huge (understatement of the month)...

Ciao..LiO...Peace

Omaha Cowboy wrote:

Coyote wrote:I spoke with Joseph Young of the Nebraska Chamber the other day asking about this location, if he could tell me whether the Data Center would be Facebook or not, and he said he could neither confirm nor deny this, but it will be announced within the month.

Wowzers..

If true, this would be huge (understatement of the month)...

Ciao..LiO...Peace

They talked about the benefit of data centers for the city on grow Omaha this past Saturday and it sounds like this could be really good for the area!

I have a feeling it would be Amazon. While yes, Facebook is growing, they still have their site in Altoona and from the looks of it can grow around their current campus.

Four 600,000+ sqft buildings seem almost like an Amazon data center plus possible fulfillment center and would also explain the tunnel.

I certainly could be wrong, but I just don't see Facebook building another campus that close to their current one.

As a former Google employee, I think it would be hilarious if it was another Google campus in the metro, but I know for sure that they are not even 20% built out at the current Southlands location.

If it is Amazon, that might be why they voluntarily decided to start collecting sales tax in Nebraska. Since the law states that you have to collect sales tax only if you have a physical presence.

lmdramos wrote:If it is Amazon, that might be why they voluntarily decided to start collecting sales tax in Nebraska. Since the law states that you have to collect sales tax only if you have a physical presence.

That is a good point.

iamjacobm wrote:

lmdramos wrote:If it is Amazon, that might be why they voluntarily decided to start collecting sales tax in Nebraska. Since the law states that you have to collect sales tax only if you have a physical presence.

That is a good point.

Amazon just expanded collecting taxes in a lot of states this year. It looks like they include about 40 states now. However, with a project that size, the field is limited as to what company it might be. Amazon seems logical.

Why do people get excited about data centers?

Omaha_corn_burner wrote:Why do people get excited about data centers?

I think people think names like Amazon, Google and Facebook are a feather in the cap of the community. They sure don't create many jobs, but I think the taxes they generate make up for that. Lots of construction dollars too.

Omaha_corn_burner wrote:Why do people get excited about data centers?

Because of all the data that gets processed

lmdramos wrote:If it is Amazon, that might be why they voluntarily decided to start collecting sales tax in Nebraska. Since the law states that you have to collect sales tax only if you have a physical presence.

Maybe it will be Jet.com?????

Omaha_corn_burner wrote:Why do people get excited about data centers?

A lot of it also shows that Omaha is getting noticed and considered by these huge companies. The ego aspect of it is a big reason why it's a big deal and not only that, these companies build these data centers and they're not going anywhere soon. It's a lasting impact on the communities they are put in with the tax dollars generated.

What does a 610,000 sq. ft. building look like? Is there a building in the metro that it can be compared to?

buildomaha wrote:

Omaha_corn_burner wrote:Why do people get excited about data centers?

A lot of it also shows that Omaha is getting noticed and considered by these huge companies. The ego aspect of it is a big reason why it's a big deal and not only that, these companies build these data centers and they're not going anywhere soon. It's a lasting impact on the communities they are put in with the tax dollars generated.

And even if the number of permanent employees isn't very high, they hire IT professionals who have the kind of income that buys houses and goes out to dinner. This pours money into the city. They hire lots of specialized electricians and HVAC people who also earn "raise a family" money.

The massive project will not be Facebook, Amazon, or Jet.com. It's going to be much bigger than that. The massive project is going to be the long rumored European Village development (entertainment district, medical research park, upscale boutique hotels, 1 million square feet of office space, 2 million square feet of high end retail, 150 acres of parks, 3000 apartments, 1500 condos, etc.)

OmahaOmaha wrote:The massive project will not be Facebook, Amazon, or Jet.com. It's going to be much bigger than that. The massive project is going to be the long rumored European Village development (entertainment district, medical research park, upscale boutique hotels, 1 million square feet of office space, 2 million square feet of high end retail, 150 acres of parks, 3000 apartments, 1500 condos, etc.)

The joke that never dies.

bigredmed wrote:And even if the number of permanent employees isn't very high, they hire IT professionals who have the kind of income that buys houses and goes out to dinner. This pours money into the city. They hire lots of specialized electricians and HVAC people who also earn "raise a family" money.

Dozens of people don't "pour" money into a city.

Datacenters don't employ a lot of people. They are literally big rooms with a bunch of computers (servers in racks) that just sit there.

Omaha_corn_burner wrote:

bigredmed wrote:And even if the number of permanent employees isn't very high, they hire IT professionals who have the kind of income that buys houses and goes out to dinner. This pours money into the city. They hire lots of specialized electricians and HVAC people who also earn "raise a family" money.

Dozens of people don't "pour" money into a city.

Datacenters don't employ a lot of people. They are literally big rooms with a bunch of computers (servers in racks) that just sit there.

Dozens of $100K a year IT people put a lot of cash into the economy and sectorially benefit things that are cool and we need as a city by pumping more cash into some things they like or support (Your church needs to expand? Better have a bunch of these people who can afford to write a $5000 check.)

They are just big buildings full of computers. Someone had to build the building. Someone had to do HVAC. Someone had to do the general electrical work. Someone had to do the fiber and other low voltage stuff for the servers. Someone had to do the security system. All of these someones make good money and that server farm hired a lot of them to get built and will continue to need some of them indefinitely. Those are good jobs that may not reach 6 figures, but they are "raise a family" jobs. We would love to see another PayPal, but if all we can get is a big server farm, that is property tax income for the metro and the state, that is a lot of people who are either big sector hitters or folks who are able to raise their family and keep the lights on in their churches and clubs. All in all a good thing.

Thank you for your detailed answer.

A 610k sqft building is about the size of three Super Walmarts. And while they don't employ a ton of tech workers, they employee enough overall staff. (Cleaning, logistics, facility maintenance, security, etc )

I do understand the "meh" attitude toward data centers here. They are companies' infrastructure projects. More hardware based jobs than software engineers. Still, it is an outside company building something here.

Facebook looks to be the company building a massive new data center in Papillion

http://www.omaha.com/news/metro/faceboo ... 2c73f.html

By Hailey Konnath / World-Herald staff writer wrote:The name listed on applications is “Raven Northbrook LLC,” a company created to keep the identity of the actual company secret. Corporation Service Company, a Delaware-based firm, created the LLC.

But in an application for the out-of-state LLC to operate in Nebraska, the address of the principal office is listed 1 Hacker Way, Menlo Park, California — the address of Facebook’s headquarters.

4 610K SF buildings! That is going to be a monster of a campus.

If it is four 610,000 sqft buildings that would be massive. Their other locations are in the 450,000 to 750,000 sqft range.

Facebook also likes to be Carbon Neutral on everything they do. In Iowa they had wind farms built by a utility so the electricity they purchased could be considered Carbon Neutral. With 2.4 million square feet that would be a lot of power and room for around 21,000,000 hamsters*

*Reference to the future largest building in the US, Gigafactory.

Wow. Regardless, I figured whichever one it is, it would be a boon for the area. If Google does another massive expansion accelerated expansion, the area will once again have a shortage of electricians, HVAC, etc.

It would gen really impressive if Travelers ever expands their facility immediately north of this site. They can quadruple theirs as well!

While this is a great get, I'm a little disappointed it is Facebook. I was hoping it would be a more exciting company.

Bomaha wrote:I have a feeling it would be Amazon. While yes, Facebook is growing, they still have their site in Altoona and from the looks of it can grow around their current campus.

Four 600,000+ sqft buildings seem almost like an Amazon data center plus possible fulfillment center and would also explain the tunnel.

I certainly could be wrong, but I just don't see Facebook building another campus that close to their current one.

As a former Google employee, I think it would be hilarious if it was another Google campus in the metro, but I know for sure that they are not even 20% built out at the current Southlands location.

Worth noting, Altoona, PA? Most likely is great for the east coast but is actually pretty far. But, Omaha sits on a huge fiber ring which would be great for anyone in the region, running Dallas, NW Arkansas, Dallas, Kc, OKC and Wichita...

Facebook? Here? In Omaha?! (And, I thought Paypal looked like a fun place to work!)

HR Paperstacks wrote:While this is a great get, I'm a little disappointed it is Facebook. I was hoping it would be a more exciting company.

What would qualify as an exciting data center?


I'll admit, I'm still trying to figure out how big of a deal these are. Obviously the construction jobs are good. But once these bad boys are up and running they don't need a ton of employees but take up a lot of space Hopefully we don't give too much on the incentive side.


Greg

Using very rough numbers based on Prineville Oregon and Altoona Iowa I could see the following.

Construction: $1.6 billion, I originally came up with $1.8 but I am sure a big chunk is electronics and those costs have come down since the original facilities were built.

Employment: 250 daily workers

Power: $1.8 million per year franchise fee and require a wind farm be built.

Trips wrote:Using very rough numbers based on Prineville Oregon and Altoona Iowa I could see the following.

Construction: $1.6 billion, I originally came up with $1.8 but I am sure a big chunk is electronics and those costs have come down since the original facilities were built.

Employment: 250 daily workers

Power: $1.8 million per year franchise fee and require a wind farm be built.

If it is only a Data Center there isn't a chance in heck it employees 250 daily workers. 20 to 40 Fulltime employees maximum.

That includes 24 x 7 Security and all the IT and Maintenance staff. There is no need to have IT, Electrical, HVAC, or Maintenance staff on site on nights or weekends unless they are doing afterhours work. All they electrical and environmental systems are fully redundant. If it fails over to the backup the maintenance staff gets pinged and they get out of bed and come in. Data Centers routinely go multiple years with out downtime.

No servers will be configured or repaired on site. The only thing the IT guys will do is unbox, rack servers, and plug them into the network. Configuration, patching, monitoring and everything else is automated. In the case of catastrophic hardware failure the server is simply removed from the rack and reboxed and shipped out. Servers don't have hardware failures anymore anyway because there are no longer any moving parts. Even Storage arrays rarely have failed disks anymore because everything is moving to flash storage instead of spinning disks.

If you want jobs you better hope it is an Amazon Distribution Center and those are lowish wages and Amazon is notorious for working those people insanely hard. Those jobs are all going to be replaced by robotics in 5 to 10 years anyway.

I used Google to count the cars a Google

Google in Council Bluffs (newer, large facility)
300+ permanent parking stalls
500+ temporary construction parking stalls
On Sunday June 5, 2016, 200+ Cars in the permanent lot, 70+ Cars in the temporary construction lot

Google in Councl Bluffs (older, smaller facility)
200+ permanent Parking Stalls
On Sunday June 5, 2016, 80+ cars in the parking lot

However on that same Sunday 5/5/2016
Yahoo had about 2 dozen and Fidelity and Travelers each had about a dozen.

I guess it varies how many employees by company???

Trips wrote:Facebook also likes to be Carbon Neutral on everything they do. In Iowa they had wind farms built by a utility so the electricity they purchased could be considered Carbon Neutral.

A wind farm running running a data center sounds kind of risky. Does the Iowa site have some kind of energy storage system, or any other sources of carbon neutral energy(solar?) for when the wind is not blowing?

bmt wrote:

Trips wrote:Facebook also likes to be Carbon Neutral on everything they do. In Iowa they had wind farms built by a utility so the electricity they purchased could be considered Carbon Neutral.

A wind farm running running a data center sounds kind of risky. Does the Iowa site have some kind of energy storage system, or any other sources of carbon neutral energy(solar?) for when the wind is not blowing?

They do not run it directly I am positive. The wind farm produces to the grid and the data center pulls from it.