Multi-million Dollar Port Authority Deal for new Microsoft Data Center in Malaga

The Chelan-Douglas Port Authority (CDPA) is closing a 72.5-acre land deal with Microsoft on June 15, with plans of building a new data center in Malaga. Microsoft is working on buying an additional 30 acres in that area, however the main snag to that plan is that land currently houses some  Malaga residents.

The deal is split into two phases: the first phase includes a $6.6 million purchase of the first 72.5 acres. The second phase is projected to close by Nov. 18 and would buy up the additional 30 acres, however the CDPA will be responsible for rehoming the current tenants before that deadline.

“They are actually tenants of the property we now have under contract,” CDPA Business Development Manager Craig Larsen said. “We have purchased it from the owners, but they have people that were renting from them and obviously need a place to live. So [we are] working on accomplishing that now.”

Larsen states that they will financially assist tenants in the moving process, however he declined on commenting what their stipend would be.

The search for property began in 2020. Larsen expressed the CDPA’s desire for this land to be utilized for development in the near future.

“The demand for data centers is huge across the country, across the world, because so much data is in the cloud, which means it has to be stored somewhere, so a data center will be the ultimate use for this property.”

The new data center would provide a closer job site to Microsoft workers who currently commute to Quincy. It would also provide tech opportunities for the existing labor pool in Wenatchee.