WASHTENAW COUNTY, Mich. – Top tech executives and elected officials gathered Monday afternoon in Saline Township to break ground on what they describe as one of the largest economic investment development deals in Michigan history.
A multibillion-dollar data center campus known as “The Barn.”
The 250-acre project includes companies such as OpenAI, Oracle, and Related Digital.
Officials say the development will create thousands of union construction jobs, contribute about $8 million annually to Michigan schools, and use technology designed to minimize its impact on water resources.
Developers added that the complex will use a closed-loop air-cooling system to help protect Michigan waters, a frequent concern with large-scale data centers that require substantial resources to keep servers cool.
“What’s being built here in Saline will help power the next generation of artificial intelligence, innovation, and economic growth for this country,” Jeff T. Blau, CEO of Related Companies, said during the event.
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, said he believes the facility could become a global hub for scientific and educational breakthroughs.
“This could very well turn into the site where cancer gets cured,” Altman said. “This could turn into the site where hundreds of millions of students around the world learn and get private tutoring.”
While leaders touted the project as a major win for Washtenaw County and the broader region, not everyone was celebrating.
For months, some nearby residents have protested the plan, arguing that the project could harm the environment and harm people living nearby.
Something a few people echoed nearly a mile down the road from Monday’s celebrations.
“I don’t think that it has any actual community benefit that is positive,” said Sarah Brabbs, who lives about a mile from the township line.
Brabbs acknowledged that the project will generate thousands of jobs but said she does not believe the broader community gains enough in return for hosting such a massive facility.
She also criticized what she described as a lack of transparency by developers regarding issues such as noise pollution and the belief that the closed-loop cooling system will use less water.
“We’ve been asking for months, so I’m not really expecting answers,” Brabbs said. “But that doesn’t mean we’ll stop asking.”
The first building on the data center campus is expected to be completed in the first quarter of next year.
Brabbs said she is now traveling around Michigan to speak with residents in other communities about what she sees as the potential negative effects of large data centers and to urge them to scrutinize similar proposals closely.