Google has taken a major step towards what potentially could become one of the largest data centre developments in Central US.

According to the Kansas City Business Journal, the company has acquired a 236.4 acres piece of land in Kansas City‘s Northland, Missouri, adding to the company’s already owned 78.9 acres that were acquired in 2019 by Shalerock LLC, a vehicle which Alphabet Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOGL) has used to carry out the transactions.

A Google representative said: “Google has acquired property in Kansas City, Mo., for a potential data centre.

“While we do not have a confirmed timeline for development for the site, we want to ensure that we have the option to further grow, should our business demand it.”

Google’s intentions to erect a facility in Kansas were first reported in July 2019. At the time, and under the code name of “Project Shale”, the company was chasing a potential US$600 million investment to build a phase 1 data centre on the 78.9 acres.

With the newly acquired land which brings the site to more than 315 acres, should Google pursue its intentions to build a facility, the cash commitment could ascend the $1.8 billion.

In 2019, the Port Authority of Kansas City authorised the issuance of up to $25 billion in privately backed Chapter 68 bonds over a 35-year period, providing for property tax exemption.

However, officials said at the time there were no indications the public cloud giant would seek to invest such value in the project.