Oracle project does not compute for Treasure Valley 

Officials at software giant Oracle walked away from an agreement to build a data center in the Treasure Valley two weeks ago when a property owner in Meridian raised the price of the real estate by 44 percent just as the deal was closing, sources told the Idaho Business Review.

Five sources who were aware of the project but would not speak on record said the project was a done deal until the property owner upped the price. None of the sources would identify the property owner or location of the property.

The data center is a $250 million project that will eventually employ 150 people with an average salary of more than $65,000. Data centers manage and route information and this project will require about 25 megawatts of electricity.

According to Oracle’s Web site, the company is the world’s top supplier of software for information management and the second largest independent software company. It ranks number 167 on the Fortune 200 list in 2007 with $14.3 billion in revenue and $3.3 billion in profit.

Paul Hiller, executive director of the Boise Valley Economic Partnership or BVEP, would not confirm that he has had any discussions with Oracle. He wouldn’t even confirm whether he had been talking with a Fortune 200 company.

BVEP is an economic development tool of the Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce. Its mission includes luring new business to town.

In a March BVEP newsletter, a front page article says, “A case in point is Project Data, code name for a Fortune 200 high-tech company that has narrowed down the location to build a data center to two sites in the Boise Valley and two sites in the Salt Lake City area.”

Sources told the IBR that Oracle had planned to build the data center in Meridian but walked away when the property owner raised the price of the property from $4.85 per square foot to $7 per square foot. Sources say the project will now be built in Salt Lake City.

Phil Stiffler, economic excellence coordinator for the city of Meridian, argues that the real estate price did not change the deal. He said the site consultants told him before the final decision was made that “This decision is like a jump ball in basketball and you’re Shaq.” Shaquille O’Neal usually wins a jump ball. Ironically, he sat out Tuesday’s game with a hip bruise.

The decision left Meridian officials with a bruised but encouraging ego.

When Oracle walked away from the Meridian site, Stiffler said the consultants told him the city had done everything it could and that they could not tell him the reason the deal fell through.

Stiffler said that Idaho Power had met with the consultants and showed that it could provide adequate and low-cost electricity to the project. Idaho Power officials would not confirm that they met with anyone representing Oracle or BVEP’s code name “Project Data.”

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