FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WISH) — Google broke ground Friday on a $2 billion data center southeast of downtown Fort Wayne.

WISHTV.com first reported on the Fort Wayne development in October, and confirmed in January that Google bought land for the development. The site sits amid 892 acres in the area of East Tillman Road and Adams Center Road. The area, southeast of downtown Fort Wayne, is the size of about 765 football fields. It’s about a mile north of the I-469 exit for Marion Center Road.

Fort Wayne officials recently approved work to start on sewers and stormwater drainage for the project.

Google has 24 data centers in the world, 14 of those in North America. The nearest to Indiana is in a suburb of Columbus, Ohio. The center power Google’s various programs, including its maps, email, documents and cloud systems.

Google on Friday also announced a skilled trade career development program and a collaboration with Indiana Michigan Power Co. (I&M) to add clean energy to the local grid. 

A news release from the Fort Wayne city government said, “I&M and Google’s new collaboration will advance the clean energy transition and help maintain affordable, reliable service for all I&M customers. These efforts will bring clean energy to the local electricity grid and support Google’s ambitious 2030 goal to run all its data centers and campuses on carbon-free energy (CFE), every hour of every day. Today, Google already matches 100% of its global annual electricity consumption with renewable energy purchases and, as a pioneer in computing infrastructure, its data centers are some of the most efficient in the world.”

In addition, Google will have its Skilled Trades and Readiness program in Fort Wayne. The paid-training program, in conjunction with Ivy Tech Community College, is designed to bring new workers in skilled trades to underrepresented communities, Google data center construction sites, and other local projects.

Google also announced $250,000 will go to the new Fort Wayne Early Learning Center, which will serve both East Allen County and Fort Wayne Community Schools students and their children, and Just Neighbors Interfaith Homeless Network, Fort Wayne’s emergency housing shelter for families in need.

For the data center, the state government’s Indiana Economic Development Corp. will create a 35-year sales-tax exemption for a minimum of $800 million in eligible capital. For each additional $800 million of eligible investment over the 35-year term, the state says Google will be eligible for tax exemptions for an additional five years, up to a total term of 50 years. The incentives can be claimed once investments are made, the state says.

Google also announced Friday that it’s investing an additional $1 billion to expand its three existing Virginia data center campuses.

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