Facebook expected to invest $1.5bn in data center expansion

Facebook is adding on to its north Forth Worth, TX data center. With an expected investment of $1.5 billion, the social media giant is bringing the total space to a gargantuan 2.6 million square feet.

The data center stores and processes posts from Facebook’s site, what the company calls “cold storage.” The posts and photos stored there are typically older and less frequently accessed by users.

According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, construction at the site has been “near constant” since it was initially built in 2015. The center has had, at peak construction, 1,200 construction workers on site.

About 150 Facebook employees work at the site.

In 2019 the Star-Telegram reported that the city of Fort Worth had offered incentives to Facebook to invest further at the data campus. The incentives included a 20% property tax break.

Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price expressed delight at the new investment.

She tweeted, “Facebook continues to be an incredible community partner and we are thrilled to see them continually invest in Fort Worth.”