Microsoft has bought land to develop New Zealand’s first data center for $ 100 million plus in a move praised last year by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

Now the exact location of the site can be revealed.
Property records show where the business will build its first base in a project planned by one of the world’s most successful technology companies, potentially worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Microsoft has about 100 data centers around the world but never had one here, so the choice of site is very important.

Google recently launched a US $ 1.2 billion plan to build two new server farms in the United States, providing an illustration of the numbers involved in the venture.

Last week, Microsoft NZ managing director Vanessa Sorenson was told The Herald company will build three data centers in different locations around Auckland to create what is called the data center region.

Microsoft’s recent financial filings revealed use an Irish subsidiary, in part, to fund its construction in Auckland.

Infratil’s CDC Data Center section also owns start in a multi-data center built in the north and northwest of the city, with hidden locations. In Australia, Microsoft and CDC are closely partnering and sharing the infrastructure. The pair declined to say that their respective Auckland projects crossed paths.

Last year, Microsoft announced plans to set up its first New Zealand data center, but no exact location was given for security reasons, although Auckland has been identified.

Recent property records show the name Microsoft New Zealand on the now vacant site on Kakano Rd outside Fred Taylor Dr, Westgate, Auckland.

It is greenfield ex-horticultural land owned by Mark Gunton’s NZ Retail Property Group, but is progressively being sold under a multi-billion dollar scheme covering about 50ha alongside the northwest highway.

The world’s second-largest retailer, Costco, is building its first New Zealand outlet within a Microsoft block of land. Costco is second only to Walmart in terms of revenue.

Owning Costco and now Microsoft means Gunton has secured two of the world’s top companies. He said this week he could not discuss Microsoft but expressed excitement with Costco’s progress, saying work is fast progressing there.

Earthwork equipment and pile drive rigs have been active on the site where work began last year. Patrick Noone, managing director of Costco Australia and New Zealand, expects it to open in the first half of next year.

Details on how big Microsoft plans to build on its site are not available.

A spokesperson said: “Due to security and confidentiality, we do not disclose the exact location of our data center area, this is to maintain the physical security of the facility, which will hold New Zealand data. All we can reveal is that the new data center region will be located in Auckland. “

As one of the largest and most successful technology companies in the world, Microsoft’s global revenues totaled US $ 143 billion in the 2020 financial year.

“This signals to the world that NZ is open for quality business and investment,” Ardern said last year of Microsoft’s decision to expand here.

The Herald reported this month Microsoft’s exact location has been withheld for security reasons.

Last September, Microsoft also reportedly obtained approval from the Office of Foreign Investments to build a giant cloud computing data center in Auckland. The applicant is Microsoft NZ, 100 percent owned by a Bermuda entity but ultimately controlled by Microsoft Corporation in the US.

“The investment involves acquiring land rights for the operation of the data center, whose value has yet to be confirmed but will exceed $ 100 million,” said the OIO ruling at the time.

Microsoft proposes to increase the ‘”hyperscale cloud service” available to organizations in New Zealand by creating “territories” of data on land. [aka a building full of servers], the decree says, “which will enable organizations and institutions to store New Zealand data (including sensitive data about New Zealanders), to help organizations and institutions comply with regulatory requirements.”

While construction increases and profits for companies using cloud services, it is unlikely that the data center will immediately provide a lot of jobs once it is up and running. The data center is largely automated.

Such centers are notorious for the amount of electricity they consume, mostly via air conditioning to cool servers. But in the US, Microsoft has focused on solar power and other clean energy solutions and the company has set a goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2030.