NEWTON COUNTY – Amazon Data Services Inc. has purchased land in Newton County with the potential of opening a data center in the area.

The transaction involves Amazon Web Services, which handles the cloud computing programming for the tech company.

According to a deed obtained by The Covington News, Amazon Data Services inc. purchased several parcels of land totaling 429.5 acres. The deed lists three full parcels and two portions of parcels as being involved in the deal, all within the same general area.

The land is located around 1.5 miles away from Covington Town Center and just over a mile away from a number of major developments, including Three Ring Studio.

Per QPublic.net – the official search records database for tax parcels in the county – the first parcel had the listed owners as Southpoint Land Co. LLC, which leads to a wooded area off of Alcovy Rd. The second and third parcels had listed owners by JBW Investments LLC, which comes back to 11145 Alcovy Rd. and 375 Flat Rock Rd., respectively.

Parcels listed as “portions” come back to Hwy. 142 and Alcovy Rd areas, with the fourth parcel owned by the city of Covington and the fifth parcel  owned by the city of Covington and the Newton County Board of Commissioners.

It is being reported by multiple outlets that the total price tag is around $36 million, though it's unclear how much each beneficiary will receive in the transaction.

The Covington News reached out to Amazon Web Services for further information and received the following statement:

"We are constantly evaluating new locations based on customer demand,” per an Amazon Web Services spokesperson. “We recently purchased land in Georgia and are performing due diligence in exploring possible data center locations.” 

Serra Hall, executive director of the Newton County Industrial Development Authority, shared the significance of this potential development. 

"It's exciting to see the possibilities of Amazon coming to our community," Hall said. "It shows that Newton County continues to be a business hub and forward focusing for emerging and successful businesses. We look forward to working with them in the future. And, once we understand further of their details and plans, we'll see in what ways we can do — as we have done with other companies — continue to support their efforts and make them thrive and be successful here."