Building a Google data storage facility is like buying 10,000 gallons of milk at the grocery store all on one visit, as the size and scope of the facilities can be difficult for city officials to grasp, according to a company executive.
The task of building a structure required to satisfy Google’s computing needs is an undertaking of such magnitude that government officials who approach the company to inquire about possible future builds have difficulty conceiving the scale and complexity of such projects, said Nate Regan, global data center market development strategic negotiator at Google, at the CRE.Converge 2025 conference in Toronto this week.
The conference is put on by NAIOP, a real estate trade association planning to change its name next year to the Commercial Real Estate Development Association.
Each Google data centre facility costs about $1 billion and requires a minimum of 150 acres of land, and, if possible, the tech giant tries to purchase 400 to 600 acres for them, Regan said during a panel discussion.
Google has made some of the boldest moves in the U.S. real estate market this year. In August the company announced plans to invest $9 billion in a new data facility in Chesterfield County, Virginia, and to expand two other existing facilities in the Northern Virginia area.
The search engine giant also said it plans to spend over $1 billion in suburban Dallas, Texas, on solar energy projects to supply power to its data facilities, as it increases its focus on cloud and artificial intelligence support systems. Its Google Cloud network now spans 40 regions, including recently added Berlin, Germany, Saudi Arabia and South Africa.
Helping officials understand
When Google begins conversations with cities and towns about building there, the milk-buying reference is one he makes often, said Regan, who’s based in Google’s midtown Atlanta office. “The numbers that we talk about are so large that I often try to break them down for our mayors and city council folks in ways they understand,” said Regan.
Google’s discussions with local authorities also require dealing with the perception that data storage facilities do not create large numbers of new jobs. Regan said that Google routinely overdelivers on its promises of jobs it provides for local residents.
For example, he said, Google employs 342 people at a Georgia facility that it opened in 2008. “When you look across our portfolio, the facilities are in excess of the minimal jobs that we subscribe to when we apply for tax exemptions. I think that story has to be told.”
Regan said authorities and residents across the United States sometimes are skeptical about Google's projects. Through transparency, he aims to turn NIMBY, or not in my backyard sentiment, into PIMBY, or please in my backyard.
One transparency tool Regan has been using is offering tours of Google facilities.
“I have just been pushing to open up the doors a little bit, especially to elected officials to come and take a look,” he said. “We have to be willing to show folks what happens and goes on in there. I especially want to counter that narrative that data centres don’t create jobs, because it’s actually not correct.”
Regan said Google could do a better job with setting the tone when approaching communities about building there.
“There is so much more to this story that I think is being left out, and we have not always done a very good job at telling that narrative. I think we’re doing a little catch-up now,” said Regan.