The city of Salem revealed it is in talks with a California-based company over a possible data center project in the Mill Creek Corporate Center on Monday after the city was released from a non-disclosure agreement last week.  The company, Verrus, began talks and entered into the non-disclosure agreement with SEDCOR, the city’s economic development agency, in March 2025, as it scouted for a suitable spot in Salem for a data center project, Salem City Manager Krishna Namburi said on Monday, July 13, during a city council meeting  City spokesman Rob Layne described the current phase of discussions as a “pre-application” process and said community engagement on the matter will follow.  Verrus announced the project earlier on Monday and posted a website about the proposed project online.  The company said in its website that the possible data center is proposed at the intersection of Southeast Turner Road and Southeast Deer Park Drive, and would consist of three buildings and a utility substation. The center would be designed to support cloud computing and artificial intelligence, Verrus said on its website.  Namburi said the city was fielding questions from residents about the data center, and said the city is using common economic development practices in adhering to its non-disclosure agreement.  “When companies are evaluating potential locations for significant investments, they often request confidentiality during the early stages of discussions,” Namburi said. “This is a common practice in economic development, because companies may be evaluating multiple locations, and are not ready to share information about their operations, technology or investment levels.”  Namburi said since the non-disclosure agreement was signed, city staff had one introductory meeting with Verrus followed by three technical meetings.  Those included meetings to better understand the proposed site design, possible transportation access, utilities that would be needed for such a project and environmental considerations.  She said one meeting covered the conservation of heritage oak trees.  “That is essentially the extent of the city’s interaction with the company,” Namburi said. “To be completely transparent, both the city and Verrus agreed that we would release the details of those meetings publicly.”  Namburi referred the public to the company’s website for more specific details on the project but said the company indicated the potential of 75 permanent high-paying jobs and private investment in Salem to the tune of $5.1 billion.  For context, Namburi said, the city’s current tax base is roughly $17 billion.  She said the data center could generate about $9 million annually for the city’s general fund and about $1.5 million for the city’s levy, which was accepted by voters in May 2025 to help pay for city services including the library, parks and Center 50+.  Namburi also sought to quell community concerns over the community and environmental impacts traditionally associated with large data center projects.  “We have also been informed that the proposed facility would be designed as a low water consumption data center. Staff will carefully evaluate the project’s water demand to ensure that it does not put the city’s long-term water needs at risk,” Namburi said.  This is a developing story. It will be updated as more details become available. “My go-to source every morning for accurate, local news.” Make Salem Reporter your trusted source for independent local reporting – every day. Stay informed and connected. Subscribe today. The post Salem discloses proposed Mill Creek data center project after city released from NDA  appeared first on Salem Reporter. ...read more read less