Google is reportedly finally moving ahead with a data center development in Austria, some 17 years after first buying land there.

Local press, including OOE ORF and Der Standard, report the search giant is moving ahead with plans for a campus in Kronstorf, in Austria’s Linz-Land district, submitting plans to the trade and building authority. A building permit could be issued before the end of this year.

Kronstorf is a town near the city of Linz, around the midway point between Vienna and Salzburg.

Kronstorf’s mayor, Christian Kolarik (ÖVP), told OOE ORF: “Yes, Google has submitted a concrete project to both the trade authority – the Linz-Land district – and the building authority – the municipality of Kronstorf.”

Details on data center specifications and timelines weren’t shared. Groundwork is reportedly already underway, and excavators are already on-site, according to local press.

Google hasn’t commented on the news.

Mayor Kolarik noted: “Google will communicate what’s coming up. But we have certain guidelines well established at Google that are important to us, and they are now undergoing official review by experts.” This will then have to be coordinated with all involved and affected parties, and only then will Google itself make a statement.

Google bought around 70 hectares at a site in Kronstorf, close to hydroelectric power stations on the river Enns, back in 2008. At the time, reports suggested the firm was expected to invest around €200 million in the site over the following two years.

After Google failed to fulfil its contractual construction obligation, the regional Inkoba Association (Intercommunal Business Settlement, ed.) Kronstorf-Hargelsberg and the Upper Austrian location agency Business Upper Austria initiated a partial reversal of the sale. An agreement was reached that saw Google retain 50 hectares, and 20 hectares repurchased.

In the intervening years, the search giant reportedly continued its interest in the site, working on power upgrades and having regular meetings with local officials.

Drugstore chain DM was named as a potential buyer for the other half of the repurchased 20 hectares on the B309 last year, with the aim of developing a distribution center.

Microsoft recently launched a cloud region in Austria around Vienna. The likes of NTT, Digital Realty, AtlasEdge, A1, Exa, and several local players have data centers in operation around Vienna.

Google already has a sizeable data center presence across Europe, including many of Austria’s nearest neighbors. The company has cloud regions in Frankfurt (including a self-built site in Hanau) and Berlin, Germany, plus Zurich, Switzerland, and Milan, Italy.