Construction underway at 750,000-square-foot Apple data center

Three permits totaling more than $10 million were issued last week for early-stage construction of the new Apple data center east of Sparks.

Don Jeppson, official with the Washoe County Building Department, says the permits were the last of nearly 30 building permits that have been issued for pre-construction and infrastructure work at the new data center, as well as for two 25,000-square-foot “pods.” Apple plans on building a system of pods to house data storage equipment, and each freestanding pod is about 25,000 square feet and will be connected via a corridor system to the main administration building.

Total buildout is expected to be about 750,000 square feet, Jeppson says. General contractor Mortenson Construction of Minneapolis has begun work on the first two pods and will continue to add additional pods as the project moves forward.

Jeppson says that working with the high-profile client has been no different than any other large-scale project, but communication and coordination often can be challenging since Apple has so many consultants working in different locations throughout the U.S.

“A lot of it has been just working through code corrections with consultants and communication,” he says. “Usually we deal with a project team that’s all from the same state, and sometimes coordinating drawings gets a little disconnected, but it’s not bad.

“We look forward to working with Apple, and the general contractor has been very good to work with,” Jeppson adds. “They have been very proactive and responsive. It should be a very good project.”