The company pitching Salem a $5 billion data center has never completed one.

That's the central finding of a Salem Reporter investigation published Aug. 19, which profiled Verrus after the company declined multiple interview requests. The profile was compiled largely from public records and prior statements.

Verrus emerged from stealth in 2024 as a venture of Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners, an Alphabet spin-out backed by Google's parent company, StepStone and the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan. CEO Nelson Abramson spent 20 years at Google, including a decade on its data center team, and later ran infrastructure at X, formerly Twitter. Head of energy Jeff Bladen previously directed energy strategy at Meta.

The company says its leadership has collectively deployed 13 gigawatts of data center capacity. That experience came at prior employers. Verrus itself is roughly two years old.

"I think the short answer is we do not have a full-scale operating data center that we can use today," Bladen acknowledged at the Aug. 6 Salem Area Chamber of Commerce meeting, when asked whether Verrus had an operating facility residents could visit.

Michigan project stalled

Verrus's only other known development, Project Flex in Lyon Township, Michigan, is a proposed 1.8 million-square-foot facility on 172 acres. Despite receiving conditional planning commission approval in September 2025, the project had not received final site plan approval as of this summer after a fourth application that included a $10 million community benefits package.

In May, an attorney for Verrus warned the township that further delay would bring legal action, including injunctions and damages under Michigan and federal law, according to WXYZ Detroit. Lyon Township passed its own six-month moratorium on new hyperscale data centers in March 2026, though it did not apply to Project Flex.

Salem chose Verrus anyway

SEDCOR, Salem's contracted economic development agency, selected Verrus over multiple competing data center companies. Director Erik Andersson told Salem Reporter on Aug. 14 that the agency liked the company's approach for a more sustainable data center, despite knowing Salem would be among Verrus's first builds.

The proposed Oakline at Mill Creek project calls for two buildings totaling 600,000 square feet on about 100 acres. The city's FAQ page projects more than $5 billion in investment, 75 permanent jobs and roughly $9 million in annual general fund revenue after a three-year enterprise zone tax abatement expires.

But the project has hit headwinds. Gov. Tina Kotek on July 30 directed the state to terminate a pending contract for 32 acres of state-owned land at Mill Creek that was part of Verrus's proposed site. The City Council voted unanimously Aug. 3 to begin the moratorium process, though Verrus's July 31 land use application proceeds under existing zoning code regardless.

Unanswered questions

Key details remain unresolved. The community benefits agreement has not been written. Bladen told the Chamber on Aug. 6 that the exact terms are still to be determined. The land use application does not include projected water usage figures, making independent evaluation of Verrus's conservation claims difficult.

City Attorney Dan Atchison estimated the formal moratorium hearing for the Sept. 21 City Council meeting, following a required 45-day notice to the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development.