Michigan Township Sued Into Accepting $16 Billion Data Center
Saline Township, Michigan lost its fight against a massive data center development after the project's developer sued the community into submission. The township's planning commission and board had both rejected the 21 million square foot facility - exactly what the township's 2,883 residents wanted - but Related Digital, the developer and subsidiary of billionaire Steven Roth's real estate conglomerate, filed suit claiming exclusionary zoning.
The legal pressure worked. Township officials, facing the prospect of a costly court battle they were unlikely to win, settled within weeks. The agreement allows the project to proceed on 575 acres of farmland.
Fred Lucas, the township's attorney, told Fortune: "If you polled everyone on the township board, they would have said the same thing: they didn't want a data center there. We didn't invite them, we didn't encourage them."
The University of Michigan Loophole
Saline's officials had limited options. Related Digital threatened to partner with the University of Michigan, which has the legal authority to bypass local zoning laws. That threat alone made a legal defense nearly impossible.
"I'm not sure there were any good solutions," Lucas said.
Part of Trump's Stargate Initiative
The data center will primarily serve OpenAI and Oracle as part of the Stargate project, a $500 billion AI infrastructure initiative announced by President Donald Trump.
The October revelation that the facility would house servers for major AI companies underscored the scale of what Saline's residents faced.
A Pattern Across America
Saline's experience reflects a broader conflict playing out across the country. Municipal governments are increasingly pressured to approve data center projects their constituents oppose, while residents turn to ballot measures to fight back.
Kathryn Haushalter, a local mother living near the site, said the process felt unfair: "It feels like I'm playing by a different rule book. Like I'm playing baseball and they're playing football."
The pattern is consistent: tech companies and their wealthy backers impose infrastructure on communities from above rather than building consensus from below. Towns absorb environmental and social costs while having little say in the decision.
For real estate and construction professionals, understanding these dynamics is essential. Learn more about AI for Real Estate & Construction to stay informed on how AI infrastructure development is reshaping land use and zoning decisions.
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