Apple finishes Reno warehouse, announces Northern Nevada expansion

RENO — On Thursday, Apple officials visited Reno to announce crews have completed construction on the company’s downtown warehouse, in addition to announcing completion of the east campus at its Northern Nevada Data Center east of town.

Further, the mega company announced plans for new construction for a west campus at its data center in Sparks, as well as partnering on expanding a solar power project for the region.

These expansions, according to a statement provided to the NNBV, will up the data center’s footprint to 1.2 million square feet.

According to Apple, the new facilities are part of the company’s five-year, $10 billion investment in U.S. data centers announced last year, and join more than 4 million square feet of existing centers in five states.

The announcements were made at the data center at 21505 Reno Technology Parkway in Sparks; the event featured speeches from Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak; Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve; Kristina Raspe, Apple’s vice president of Global Real Estate and Development; and Mario Pabon, president of Empower America.

“Apple’s investments in Nevada are creating hundreds of jobs across the state and helping revitalize the communities they touch,” Sisolak said in a statement provided to the NNBV. ”Apple was the first tech company to invest in the Reno area, and since then, our state has become a hub for technological innovation…”

Further, the mega company announced plans for new construction for a west campus at its data center in Sparks, as well as partnering on expanding a solar power project for the region.

Construction of the solar power facility is part of an effort to expand the nearby Turquoise Solar Project, located at 21905 Reno Technology Parkway East in Reno. Once fully operational, the project is expected to generate 60 MW of solar energy.

According to previous NNBV reports, construction on the first phase of the Turquoise Solar project began in July 2018 and is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2019. Further, the project aims to deliver a workforce composed of 80 percent Nevada residents and is committed to hiring veterans first, with up to 20 percent veterans.

“Too many veterans return home looking for a way to support their families and end up in dead-end or low-paying jobs,” said Pabon, of Empower America, a national veterans group partnering with the Turquoise project. “The construction projects for Apple have been instrumental in helping our veterans begin the start of a great civilian life by finding good paying jobs and training on installing solar power.”

As for the downtown warehouse, according to a Feb. 14 story from the Reno Gazette Journal, the facility is seen by the city as a pivotal piece in its efforts to revitalize the Tessera tourism improvement district.

After Apple picked Reno in 2012 as a new data center site, it was required to build a downtown Reno facility in order to receive part of the $89 million in tax abatements it negotiated with the state, according to the RGJ.

“Apple’s construction has meant a great deal to Nevada, and breathed new life into downtown Reno,” Schieve said in a statement provided to the NNBV. “The company’s Reno warehouse will further boost the revitalization of the 6th and Evans neighborhood that had once been abandoned. I get excited when I think of Apple co-existing with newer nearby businesses such as The Depot and Lead Dog craft breweries.”