Developer Verrus Plans Major 180-Acre Data Center Campus in Michigan Amid Local Opposition

Developer Verrus Plans Major 180-Acre Data Center Campus in Michigan Amid Local Opposition January 23, 2026 A significant new data center development is poised to reshape the digital infrastructure landscape in Michigan, highlighting the ongoing tension between rapid industry expansion and community concerns in regions new to such large-scale projects. Developer Verrus, backed by Alphabet spinoff Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners, has received conditional approval for a massive data center campus in Lyon Township, northwest of Detroit. The project, codenamed 'Project Flex,' is planned for a 180-acre site on the east side of Milford Road, south of the Huron Valley Trail crossing. The campus is designed to comprise six buildings, offering a total of 1.8 million square feet (approximately 170,000 square meters) of floor space, and will include a dedicated utility substation. While the site plan gained conditional approval in September, the project has not yet secured all necessary permits to begin construction. Key studies, including an energy audit and a sound study submitted in early January, are still under review. Specific details regarding the facility's power capacity and IT load remain undisclosed. The proposal has sparked considerable local opposition. Residents have voiced concerns about potential impacts on utility rates, the local environment, and the community's character. A private Facebook group titled 'NO DATA CENTER in Lyon Township,' created in December, has gathered approximately 2,000 members. At a public informational meeting held on January 12, some attendees called for a temporary moratorium on data center developments within the township, a tool increasingly used by local governments across the United States from Georgia to Pennsylvania to manage the unfamiliar scale and demands of such projects. The development underscores a broader national trend where the insatiable demand for computing power, driven by artificial intelligence and cloud services, is pushing data center construction into new markets. For Lyon Township, which currently has no known existing data centers according to industry maps, Project Flex represents a major industrial transformation. Its progression will be closely watched as a case study in balancing economic investment and technological necessity with local governance and community acceptance. Source: datacenterdynamics