Meta is approaching “peak construction” on its $800 million data center in Kuna, Idaho, a nearly 1 million-square-foot facility spread across 485 acres that will become the company’s 15th data center in the United States.
“Construction is going well, and the exterior on all buildings is complete,” said Stacey Yip, a spokesperson for Meta, in an email to the Idaho Statesman. “Paving and landscaping still need to be finalized and will take place this year.”
The project, which broke ground in 2022, is now employing approximately 1,400 construction workers, exceeding earlier projections by 200 workers at peak construction. The facility is expected to be completed and operational by the end of 2026, one year later than originally planned.
Colorado-based Hensel Phelps Construction and Boise-based Engineered Structures Inc. are serving as contractors on the large-scale development.
Yip did not disclose how much of the $800 million investment has gone specifically toward construction costs but confirmed that the figure remains unchanged overall, noting that the total is “still accurate for our total investment in the region.”
Delays in the construction schedule were attributed to a redesign aimed at accommodating artificial intelligence infrastructure, reflecting broader shifts in data center design nationwide.
Supporting AI workloads at scale requires a different approach than scaling to support traditional online services.
Once complete, the Kuna data center is expected to employ approximately 100 permanent workers, according to reporting by the Idaho Statesman.
While Meta’s Kuna facility may be Idaho’s first major data center, it is unlikely to be the last. Favorable tax incentives, available land, and relatively low electricity rates have made the region increasingly attractive for large-scale digital infrastructure projects.
In April 2025, the Kuna City Council approved another data center project, known as the Gemstone Technology Park, located roughly six miles west of Meta’s site. The development is expected to cost more than $1 billion and could take up to a decade to complete.
The project’s developer, Diode Ventures, has not yet announced an operator. Yip confirmed that Meta will not be involved with the Gemstone project.
Beyond its own data center investment, Meta has also committed to building a $70 million water and sewer system, which will be donated to the city of Kuna. The infrastructure upgrade is intended to support both the data center and future growth in the surrounding area.
Data center development has accelerated nationwide as demand grows for cloud computing and artificial intelligence services. In Idaho, that growth has been supported in part by a sales-tax exemption enacted by the state legislature five years ago, which applies to construction materials and server equipment for data centers.
Industry analysts say such incentives, combined with expanding AI-driven demand, are likely to continue fueling large-scale construction activity across the region in the coming years.
Originally reported by Construction Equipment Guide.
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