Software juggernaut Microsoft is acquiring 202 acres of land in its home state of Washington for a new hydroelectric data center meant to support fast growing demand for its cloud services. The company will shell out $11 million as part of a purchase and sale agreement with the Port of Quincy, which will in exchange provide 60 acres it already owns and another 142 adjacent acres purchased from neighboring residents. The deal is expected to close in January.

The transaction is one of the largest in the city’s history, and Microsoft’s second land buy in the region, having previously acquired 75 acres in 2007. Construction on the new site is scheduled to begin in the spring, with the first phase set to complete sometime in early 2015.

“Microsoft will build a data center on the port property, which is on the west side of Quincy. When completed, it will create 100 full-time jobs,” a port representative said in a statement. “Port commissioners spoke of the many ways the new server farm will impact the community, from creating additional sales and property taxes for the area to stabilizing electrical rates for residents. The economic impact will be felt throughout the area.”

Microsoft is one of several major tech companies to have established a presence in Quincy over the past few years. Yahoo!, Dell, Sabey, Vantage and Intuit have all been drawn to the region by competitive electricity pricing and a modern internet backbone laid by fiber communications giant Level 3.

Following its landmark acquisition of Nokia in September, Microsoft revealed plans to establish a $250 million facility in Finland to better serve Azure and Xbox users throughout Europe. Scandinavia is quickly emerging as a hotbed for IT Infrastructure as more companies turn to green energy sources like wind power in pursuit of operational efficiency and improved sustainability.