16 years after purchase

Google continues to keep Upper Austria on tenterhooks

Construction machinery occasionally leaves its mark on the 50-hectare site, and the transformer station built on behalf of Google has been there for some time.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Markus Wenzel, REUTERS)

Once upon a time, a tech giant had plans to set up a data center in Upper Austria... This is how the story between Google and the Kronstorf-Hargelsberg industrial estate began 16 years ago. Although US-Americans confirmed their "yes" to the location in fall 2022, little is happening.

Will Google come to Upper Austria or not? The potential settlement of the tech giant in the Kronstorf-Hargelsberg intermunicipal industrial estate is a never-ending story that many have already lost faith that it will come to life.

Google underpinned its plans in October 2022.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Screenshot)

Google secured a plot of land 16 years ago and then sold 20 hectares of it again in 2018 before announcing its plans on October 24, 2022: The US company is planning to establish the Cloud Region Austria and thus a data center not far from Steyrer Straße, the B 309, where up to 100 full-time jobs will be created when completed. After years of speculation, the topic of Google was suddenly within reach.

But more than a year and a half later, not much has happened. Kronstorf's mayor Christian Kolarik is once again pestered with the same questions as before the fall of 2022. "Is there any progress?" some people want to know. "What about now?" ask the others.

"Timetable is a matter for the investor"
Kolarik is evasive. "The timetable is a matter for the investor," says the politician. Something is happening in mini-steps on the 50-hectare site: the infrastructure is being prepared, the access road, roads and cycle path are being dug and leveled. Whether and what else is planned for this year? "We'll still need to clear the road of dust," says Kolarik.

Farmers can cultivate the land
He can understand why many people have doubts as to whether Google will be involved: "From the outside, you might think that nothing will happen." In any case, the farmers can farm the land for as long as possible. As a result, a lot is currently growing on the site.