Oakline at Mill Creek data center campus (Verrus), Salem
Also called: Oakline at Mill Creek, Verrus Salem
Verrus wants to build a $5.1 billion data center campus in southeast Salem. The state canceled a land sale for part of the site, but the company filed a smaller first phase on private land before Salem started a pause. Cooling could use up to 3 million gallons of water on the hottest days.
Where things stand: Site plan under city review. Governor canceled the state land sale; company says Salem's pause does not apply.
🕒 Latest update (Aug 4, 2026): Salem City Council voted unanimously to start adopting a data center moratorium.
What we know
- 📍 WhereMill Creek Corporate Center, near Turner Rd SE and Deer Park Dr SE, southeast Salem, Salem, Marion County
- 🏢 CompanyVerrus
- 🏛️ Owned bySidewalk Infrastructure Partners
- 🌳 Size100 acres
- 🔌 Where the power comes fromPortland General Electric grid; battery storage planned. No large power plant on site.
- ❄️ Coolingmainly air-cooled, with water misting on hot days
- 💵 Cost$5.1 billion
- 👷 Jobs promised75
❓ Still unanswered
Nobody has answered these in public yet. Can you help find out?
- Will Salem approve the Verrus site plan? 🙋 I'll find out
- How many megawatts will the campus use? 🙋 I'll find out
- Will Verrus sign the community benefits agreement it proposed? 🙋 I'll find out
- Sources give 75 or 100 acres. Which is right? 🙋 I'll find out
- Which tax lots in Mill Creek Corporate Center are in the Verrus site plan? A parcel number or city file link helps. 🙋 I'll find out
🔎 What we checked
- Oct 8, 2026: We checked the site location: we placed the pin where Turner Rd SE meets Deer Park Dr SE, at the south end of the Mill Creek Corporate Center, as news reports describe.
What happened so far
- July 31, 2026Verrus filed a site plan for two one-story buildings (600,000 sq ft) on about 100 acres.
- Aug 2026Gov. Kotek told the state to cancel the sale of 32 acres of state land to Verrus.
- Aug 4, 2026Salem City Council voted unanimously to start adopting a data center moratorium.
Local votes and rules
⏸️ Pause on new data centers
After a public hearing, Salem City Council voted 7-0 (two absent) for a 120-day pause on new data center projects, starting right away. Reports say it covers data centers using more than 2 megawatts and runs to about Jan. 19, 2027, when the council may extend it. Verrus filed its Mill Creek plan before the pause, so city lawyers said current rules apply to it.
📌 Other
After more than four hours of public comment, Salem City Council voted unanimously to start the legal process for a data center pause. State law requires 45 days' notice before a moratorium hearing.
📌 Other
At a long meeting about the Verrus project, Salem councilors unanimously backed looking into a ban on future secret deals (NDAs) with data center companies, and created a nine-member data center task force. The task force is to hold town halls and make recommendations by the end of 2026.
An aerial photo of the area.
Where this comes from
- Proposed data center in Salem stalled (Think Out Loud) · OPB · Aug 11, 2026
- Verrus data center filing sidesteps land-sale block and looming moratorium · W.Media · Aug 3, 2026
- Massive $5.1B data center proposed for Salem draws praise and pushback · KATU · July 2026
- OpenStreetMap Nominatim: Deer Park Drive SE and Turner Road SE, Salem · OpenStreetMap contributors · Oct 8, 2026
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