The West Des Moines City Council this week approved a development agreement with Microsoft for another data center, bringing the tech giant’s overall data center investment in the community to more than $6 billion.

The council approved the agreement during its meeting on Monday.

The planned data center, called Project Ruthenium, will be along Veterans Parkway at Woodland Avenue in Madison County, just west of the company’s Osmium data center. It would be the company’s sixth data center that has been built, is under construction or has been announced.

According to a release from the city, phase one of the new data center would include a 245,000-square-foot building with a total investment of $210 million. It will create about 25 full-time jobs when it begins operation, along with hundreds of construction jobs.

The site can hold up to four data center buildings as further phases are announced, officials said.

The city will provide $15 million in public improvements, including paved streets and extending public utilities to the site.

Ryan Moffatt, community and development director for the city, said consideration of a site plan for the project wouldn’t likely happen until later this summer.

He said the data center investment by Microsoft has resulted in nearly $200 million in public improvements through tax increment financing where the data centers are located that have opened up more than 4,500 acres of land for additional development.

Moffatt said the city’s relationship with MIcrosoft has yielded  “substantial benefits” to the city.
“Microsoft’s investment in the community thus far has been significant, has created over 350 permanent jobs to service the data centers and has substantially increased the city’s property tax base,” he said. “Additionally, the data centers are 100% powered by renewable energy.”