Amazon, Google Expand Investment in New Albany

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is expanding its presence with the purchased of its third site in the city where it plans to invest $400 million in a 170,000-square-foot data center on 100 acres. The latest project brings AWS’s total investment to $1.3 billion. The Information Technology cluster’s newest neighbor, Google, recently broke ground on its first 300,000 square-foot data center on a 441-acre site. Nine companies in the cluster account for $3.7 billion in investment in 3.3 million square feet of space. 

In 2015, AWS, the world’s largest cloud computing service provider, selected New Albany as one of three locations in central Ohio to build data centers. The company initially invested $300 million in a 150,000-square-foot facility on a 68-acre site. That facility employs 25 with an annual payroll of $2 million. An additional 152,000 square-foot building is under construction and AWS has received a permit to build a third facility of 157,000 square feet on the same site. Each phase of the project has an estimated investment value of $300 million. 

New Albany’s IT assets and growing reputation as an ideal location for multinational data center operations have attracted industry leaders, including Amazon, Facebook and Google which joined Nationwide Insurance, Motorists Insurance, Discover Financial, AEP and TJX. Reliable, redundant, triple feed electric capabilities, powered by AEP, meet the energy demands of data centers while the city’s robust, high speed fiber optics provide the necessary bandwidth capacity. The city also offers ample space for expansion and the ability to fast track permitting, development and construction timelines.

With an increasing concentration of data centers and mission-critical facilities, New Albany’s IT cluster is among its fastest growing. AEP’s presence in New Albany, including a mission-critical facility for a 12-state region, data center and transmission headquarters, has helped fuel growth.