Microsoft Gaines Township Data Center
Gaines Township, Kent County, MIDeveloper: MicrosoftCensus GEOID 26081
- Stage
- Proposed
- Undisclosed in public filings
- Power, Land, Water
Microsoft acquired 316 acres in Gaines Township, Kent County, Michigan for a proposed data center campus and requested a deferral of its township planning review in February 2026. It is proposed; the record holds no sourced date for when it reached that stage.
How much power it needs, how much water it would use and who would use it have not been disclosed.
Tap a pin for the data center, the parcel for its record
- This record: Proposed, ringed
- data center
- Smaller pins: 24 other published records in Michigan
Details
- this record's location, ringed
- parcel outline, from the county parcel record
- city limits, U.S. Census Bureau, on a town level record
- county boundary
The other pins are the published projects in the same state, each in its stage color. The imagery beneath is the USGS national orthoimagery, public domain, shown so the land around the site can be read.
How to read this page. Every fact links to the source it rests on; a number in brackets is its place in the source list. A figure no source gives reads Not disclosed, and nothing is estimated. Where sources give different figures, each is shown with who gave it, and another source's figure never stands in for the record's own. Entries are added and never overwritten; corrections are listed under What happened.
What is known
Each figure as its source gave it. The number in brackets is its place in the source list.
- Buildings
- 3 buildings zoning application, verified October 27, 2026
- Who leads it
- Microsoft as stated by the source
- Undisclosed in public filings
- Land, Power it would draw, Water, Who would use it, Jobs once it runs, Tax each year
Every field, with who said it and when (Researcher view)
Impact figures
| Field | Value | Who says so | Source | Last verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| How much power it needs | ||||
| How much water it would use | ||||
| How loud it would be | ||||
| Jobs once it runs | ||||
| Tax it would pay each year |
The record's fields
| Field | Value | Who says so | Source | Last verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who is building it | Microsoft | as stated by the source | October 27, 2026 | |
| Who is constructing it | ||||
| How much land | ||||
| Buildings | 3 buildings | zoning application, verified October 27, 2026 | gainestownship.org (opens in a new tab) | October 27, 2026 |
| Where its power comes from | ||||
| Grid connection | ||||
| How it is cooled |
A blank value cell means not disclosed by any source on file; a blank basis cell means the source gave the figure without saying on what basis.
The developer's figure is what the company said; what a permit allows is the ceiling a permit sets; measured means observed. Water is in gallons a day or a year, whichever the source stated; a tax claim given as a range shows both ends, each linked to the source that gave it.
Still not public, and where it would show up
The record adds each the day a source gives it. Why these documents.
- Water use A state water right filing or a water supply agreement.
- Who would use it A lease announcement or a tenant named in a filing.
- Power the campus would draw A utility or public service commission docket, an interconnection filing, or an air permit for an on site plant.
- Jobs and tax An incentive agreement, a county's economic development filing or a fiscal note.
What was decided
Acts of Kent County and Gaines Township about data centers, on the record with their source. A rule about the area is not a decision about this record.
June 15, 2026 Lowell, MI Michigan residents pushback against Microsoft data center
In Lowell, Kent County (MI), Lowell City Council and local residents debated municipal data center siting, utility infrastructure load, water consumption, and zoning rules during the June 15, 2026 session.
- Lowell City Council Officials and Speakers Elected Official auto captions, unchecked
"PEOPLE. A LOWELL TOWNSHIP PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING DRAWING A MASSIVE CROWD WITH RESIDENTS ANGRY ABOUT A PROPOSED DATA CENTER IN THEIR COMMUNITY OPERATIONS. MICROSOFT PRESENTED THEIR PLAN, SHOWING RENDERINGS OF THE PROPOSED SITE OFF I-96 AND CASCADE ROAD SOUTHEAST. THE OPPOSITION WAS CLEAR AS WE DROVE AROUND TOWN,"
- Resident public comment Resident Public Comment auto captions, unchecked
"AND YOU HEAR A LOT ABOUT ALL THE WATER THAT GETS USED AND AND THEN HOW IT AFFECTS WELLS AND THAT KIND OF STUFF. AND I JUST DON'T WANT THAT TO HAPPEN. THE LARGE SCALE DEVELOPMENTS, HOUSE COMPUTER SERVERS USED FOR THINGS LIKE PHOTOS, VIDEOS, AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE USING LARGE QUANTITIES OF WATER AND ELECTRICITY. I'M HEARING STORIES ON COMMUNITIES HAVING"
- Lowell City Council Member Elected Official auto captions, unchecked
"FEATURES, REPLENISH MORE WATER THAN THEY USE, AND WILL NOT INCREASE ELECTRICITY COSTS FOR RESIDENTS. THE COMPANY OPERATES MORE THAN 500 DATA CENTERS IN OVER 34 COUNTRIES, AND HAS NOW SUBMITTED THIS REZONING APPROVAL REQUEST FOR THE LOWELL SITE, WHICH IS BEING REVIEWED BY THE PLANNING COMMISSION. I DON'T WANT TO SEE, YOU KNOW, OUR EARTH DESTROYED BY"
Using this data in a report? Support the record.
What happened
-
· Status: permitting (content date)
Microsoft requested a delay for a Gaines Township data center meeting, and Kent County residents halted the plan.
The full Microsoft Gaines Township Data Center timeline, in order
The site
The pin is the site. The shaded outline is the parcel, from the county's own parcel record.
- Where
- 68th Street SE and Patterson Avenue, Gaines Township, MI 49512, Gaines Township, Kent County, Michigan [source] (opens in a new tab)
- How exactly it is located
- Exact, on the parcel
- The parcel
- No parcel outline in the public record
- Nearest homes
- Not computed for a record placed at a place center
- Nearest records
- ManagedWay and 123NET Byron Center Data Center (BYK1 / DC4), 6.2 mi
- Switch Grand Rapids campus, 9.8 mi
- Microsoft Dorr Township Data Center, 12 mi
- Rural Michigan Farm Data Center, 26 mi
- Aunalytics Kalamazoo Data Center, 42 mi
Keep going
Questions about this project
5 questions answered from the record
How big is Microsoft Gaines Township Data Center?
-
The record has one measure of its size: 3 buildings (zoning application, verified October 27, 2026, gainestownship.org (opens in a new tab)). Its power capacity is not disclosed.
Who is building Microsoft Gaines Township Data Center?
-
Microsoft is the developer. No construction contractor is named on the record yet.
How much power and water does Microsoft Gaines Township Data Center say it needs?
-
Power: not disclosed by any source on file. Water: not disclosed by any source on file.
Where does Microsoft Gaines Township Data Center stand today?
-
It is proposed; the date it reached that stage is not sourced, only the day a page was read. The newest entry, February 6, 2026: Microsoft requested a delay for a Gaines Township data center meeting, and Kent County residents halted the plan. [1]
What has Gaines Township or Kent County decided about it?
-
No decision by Gaines Township or Kent County about data centers is on the record. The Kent County page and the Michigan scorecard list every rated row the day a person publishes one.
Sources
Reporting
- Microsoft requests delay for Gaines Township data center meeting - MLive.com (opens in a new tab), MLive.com, February 6, 2026, query feed
- Kent County residents halt Microsoft data center plan - mlive.com (opens in a new tab), mlive.com, December 18, 2025, query feed
2 sources on file.
About this data
Last verified , first recorded . Every correction is logged on the corrections page. Report a correction · Send a tip about Microsoft Gaines Township Data Center
Cite this page
Data Center Record, "Microsoft Gaines Township Data Center", https://datacenterrecord.org/projects/microsoft-gaines-township-data-center-mi. Data: Data Center Record, datacenterrecord.org, CC BY-NC 4.0.
The structured rows are CC BY-NC 4.0. Link to this page; that is what turns a reuse into a citation. Commercial use needs a license. Prose stays under copyright.
For researchers
- Stage
- Proposed
- Tier
- built from one source
- Tags
- Built from one source
- Coordinates
- 42.8412, -85.5528
- How the location is known
- Location from the county parcel record.
- Location source
- https://gainestownship.org/
- Coordinate source
- Gaines Township planning commission record
- Published
- September 28, 2026
- Last verified
- October 27, 2026
- Undisclosed in public filings
- Location source number, Location last verified, EPA registry id, Uses, Tenancy, Cooling, How capacity was disclosed, How water was disclosed, How acreage was disclosed, Interconnection, Capacity, if disclosed, Rating of the county's rows