The tax incentives for the project were originally approved in 2012. To get those incentives, Google promised to create an additional 35 jobs and make an additional investment of $1 billion. The new project will bring the company’s total investment to the area to $2.5 billion since the 2007 announcement of the first Council Bluffs data center, which opened in 2009 along Veterans Memorial Highway.

The new investment will go toward completing the massive southern campus, which opened in 2013. Several buildings are under construction, with the largest – a four-story structure – set to open in 2019. Google’s data centers, two of which are in Council Bluffs, handle incoming Google searches and other services, such as Gmail email, Android smartphones, and YouTube videos

Currently, Google employs approximately 300 people, including those in services and security, at its facilities along Bunge Avenue and Veterans Memorial Highway, according to the company. Most of the hiring has been local, according to Chris Russell, Council Bluffs data center manager. Other jobs could be created in the community as a result of a spill-over effect of the new investment.

In addition, more than 2,000 construction workers currently are employed building the new structures on the southern campus, according to Bluffs Mayor Matt Walsh.