Source: Facebook Newsroom
The friendly approach to business in North Texas has brought many familiar face to the region. And now, we’re adding a well-known friend to the North Texas profile. Facebook announced yesterday their plans to build a $1 billion data center in north Fort Worth in Hillwood’s Alliance development. The company already broke ground on what will be a 440,103-square-foot data hall and a 69,755-square-foot administrative building. This comes following a May announcement from the City of Fort Worth, detailing a tax incentive package that hinted to a fairly large company coming to the area.
Why North Texas? Facebook, a global pioneer for technology and social connection, knew that the region not only provided a central location with easy access to fiber and renewable energy, but we also offer space. Despite the exponential growth of North Texas, there is still plenty of land for the region’s continued sprawl. As global internet access skyrockets, this facility can grow along with the number of Facebook users.
With sustainability on the mind, Facebook wants to use the power of wind to keep their servers active. To power the data center, General Electric has agreed to supply 119 wind turbines for a newly built wind farm in Clay County. When completed, the farm will generate more than 200 megawatts of energy, which could power 10,000 homes for a year. The goal, Facebook reps say, is for the new Fort Worth location to be powered by 100 percent renewable energy.
Facebook already has data centers in Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina and Sweden, each bringing hundreds of jobs to the community. The new data center in Fort Worth will bring 40-100 direct jobs through Facebook but will end up creating thousands of new jobs for North Texans as they build and manage this facility and the new wind farm. The newest location will consist of three 250,000-square-foot buildings on a 110-acre plot, is set to be in operation by summer 2016. Facebook plans on hiring at least 40 full-time employees for the Fort Worth site, earning an average of $70,000 annually, with expectations to add more than 100 jobs in the future.
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