Yahoo data center will go to Wenatchee

Yahoo Inc. will start building a data center in Wenatchee later this year, the giant Web company has announced.

Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo also has options to buy two pieces of property in Quincy, about 25 miles from Wenatchee. The two parcels are located in the Port of Quincy’s industrial park.

Curt Morris, president of the Port of Quincy Commission, said Yahoo’s plans in Chelan County do not shut the door on a possible second Yahoo site in neighboring Grant County.

“The fact they picked Wenatchee (for a data center) is a good sign,” Morris said. “It means they have a strong interest in central Washington.”

Yahoo is leasing space in Wenatchee for its first data center, which will occupy up to 45,000 square feet in a downtown building constructed in 2004.

Company spokeswoman Kiersten Hollars said Yahoo hasn’t announced how many jobs it will create in Wenatchee. Data centers typically don’t employ large numbers of workers; they house large racks of computers that provide data backup and management.

The Port of Quincy also recently signed a tentative deal with Redmond-based Microsoft, which is considering buying 74 acres for a data center there. Microsoft has until mid-March to pay $1.87 million for the land.

The interest by two of the country’s largest tech firms has north-central Washington officials aglow, said Morris.

“The main reason for this interest is we have access to a fiber network and we’ve got relatively inexpensive power. Plus, we have capacity” to bring on large corporate customers, Morris said.

Yahoo officials aren’t saying when they’ll decide whether to buy the land in Quincy, said Morris. The asking price is about $10,000 per acre, he said.

Hollars didn’t elaborate on Yahoo’s interest in the land in Quincy, except to say “it would be for our future needs.”

Morris said he’s been told by people at Yahoo the most likely use for the Quincy property would be as another data center.