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Apple wants to build cloud data center near Reno

Apple is looking to set up shop in the Biggest Little City in the World, with local and state government footing the bill for a possible $89 million in tax breaks, according to the Reno Gazette-Journal.

Donna Tam Staff Writer / News
Donna Tam covers Amazon and other fun stuff for CNET News. She is a San Francisco native who enjoys feasting, merrymaking, checking her Gmail and reading her Kindle.
Donna Tam
2 min read
Apple's data center in Maiden, N.C. Apple

Apple is planning to open a data center in northern Nevada as part of the company's plan to spend $1 billion in northern Nevada over the next 10 years, according to the Reno Gazette Journal.

Local governments are looking at the deal today and tomorrow. State officials will also need to approve the tax breaks, but construction is expected to start as early as August. The new facilities -- which come with $87 million in tax breaks spread over the next decade from city, county and state governments -- include a business and purchasing center in downtown Reno and a data center for Apple's cloud computing services east of Sparks.

Nevada Office on Economic Development Director Steve Hill told the Journal that Apple chose Reno because the company wants to diversify its locations and because Reno is closer to Apple's headquarters than the company's planned data center in Oregon. Reno is about a four-hour drive from Cupertino. Apple also has a computing center in Maiden, N.C., which is expected to run entirely off renewable energy by the end of the year.

The tax breaks -- 82 percent of which local governments will take care of -- reduce the company's tax payments by 79 percent.

The economically depressed area must be hoping for a bite of Apple's prosperity -- local governments expect to collect about $16 million in tax revenue from Apple over the next 10 years if the deal is approved. Additionally, Apple's presence would inject and estimated $343 million into the area, with up to 41 full-time jobs at the data center and 200 contract employees. The actual construction work would bring another 580 construction jobs, an estimated $103 million for the region.

CNET has contacted Apple for comment and will update this report when we learn more.