Data Center Registry
Microsoft Gaines Township Data Center
Gaines Township, Kent County, Michigan · All 45 Microsoft sites · Every Microsoft case on our tracker
Microsoft Gaines Township Data Center is a proposed data center in Gaines Township, Michigan (Kent County), operated by Microsoft. The public record puts it at 316 acres. It is the subject of active public debate, with hearings, petitions, or organized opposition on record.
Every line on this page traces to a public source listed at the bottom. Where a figure was looked for and not found, the row says so. A blank is never a zero.
Facility record
Proposed
- Operator
- Microsoft
- Facility type
- Data center
- Location
- Gaines Township, Kent County, MI
- Coordinates
- 42.8020, -85.5710 (approximate)
- Power capacity
- Not established from a public source
- Land
- 316 acres
- Investment
- Not established from a public source
- Announced
- Not established from a public source
- Utility
- Consumers Energy
- Power source
- Grid
- Cooling
- Not established
- Water use
- Not established from a public source
- Jobs
- Not established from a public source
- Public subsidy
- Not established from a public source
- Community reception
- Contested
- Source confidence
- Confirmed by multiple independent sources or official documentation
Opposition and litigation at this site
Yes. Microsoft Gaines Township Data Center in Gaines Township, Kent County, Michigan is contested. Hearings, public comment, petitions, or organized opposition are on record, and no lawsuit has been filed so far.
How the community has taken it
Reception is a sourced signal, not an editorial judgment: contested means active public debate is on record, with hearings, petitions, or organized opposition, without litigation.
Power and water
Microsoft's conditional-rezoning commitments state it will not withdraw groundwater at the site for cooling; the commitment does not identify the cooling technology itself.
Notes on the record
Microsoft's SECOND data center site within Gaines Township -- distinct from the unrelated, already-operational Switch Pyramid Campus (also in Gaines Township, tracked separately as switch-pyramid-campus-grand-rapids-mi). Microsoft bought a ~300-316-acre former Steelcase parcel on/near Patterson Avenue for ~$45-45.3M in October 2024 and is seeking to rezone a 40.5-acre portion from large-scale PUD to light industrial; Gaines Charter Township Planning Commission held a public hearing Dec 18, 2025. Township Community Development Director, Dec 2025: no specific plans provided yet beyond general intent. No capacity or total project-investment figure disclosed as of this pass. Coordinates are an approximate Patterson Avenue / Gaines Township estimate (deliberately offset from the existing Switch record's East Paris Avenue coordinates), not parcel-geocoded. Confirmed absence, not a gap: Microsoft has committed in writing to seek no local property tax abatement from Gaines Charter Township, so the empty subsidies field reflects a sourced negative at the township level. State-level (MEDC/MSF) incentives were not checked by this source.
What the record does not establish, and the document that would
In every fight on our tracker the decisive fact came out of a public records request. These are the requests for this site.
- Power capacity in megawatts
- Tax abatements or other public subsidy
- Permanent jobs promised
Which document closes each gap
- Power capacity in megawatts
- The utility's large load service agreement, the interconnection request in the grid operator's queue, or the electrical site plan in the permit file.
- Tax abatements or other public subsidy
- The abatement, PILOT, or development agreement approved by the county, city, or development authority, and the state's data center sales tax exemption certificate if one was issued.
- Permanent jobs promised
- The economic development application or incentive agreement, which usually states a job commitment and a clawback.
Have one of these documents? Send it to us and we will add it to the record with attribution.
Our reporting on this site
Other sites within 30 miles
Distances are between recorded coordinates, many of which are a city or county centroid, so treat them as approximate. Cumulative load on one utility and one aquifer is the question a planning commission rarely asks.
- Switch Pyramid Campus · Gaines Township · Switch4 mi · Under construction · 320 MW · Supported
- US Signal MI01 Grand Rapids Data Center · Kentwood · US Signal5 mi · Operating
- 123NET DC4 Grand Rapids Data Center · Byron Center · 123NET5 mi · Operating
- Microsoft Dorr Township Data Center · Dorr Township · Microsoft12 mi · Proposed · Contested
- Microsoft Lowell Township Data Center · Lowell Township · Microsoft14 mi · Proposed · Mixed reception
Questions people ask about this site
Is there opposition to the Microsoft Gaines Township Data Center in Gaines Township?
Yes. Microsoft Gaines Township Data Center in Gaines Township, Kent County, Michigan is contested. Hearings, public comment, petitions, or organized opposition are on record, and no lawsuit has been filed so far.
Has anyone filed a lawsuit over the Microsoft Gaines Township Data Center?
No lawsuit over Microsoft Gaines Township Data Center appears in the record we track as of September 9, 2026. Residents most often reach a lawyer over water supply, well drawdown, noise from cooling plant, property value, or a rezoning approved without the notice the ordinance required. If any of that is happening near this site, it is worth a review whether or not a case has been filed yet.
How much water does Microsoft Gaines Township Data Center use?
No water withdrawal figure for Microsoft Gaines Township Data Center is on record here. Cooling is recorded as unknown, which is the strongest available clue: closed loop and air cooled plant draw far less than evaporative cooling. We leave the number blank rather than estimate one.
Who operates Microsoft Gaines Township Data Center, and how big is it?
Microsoft is the operator on record. We hold 45 sites for that company across the registry. No capacity figure is on record for this site. The site is recorded at 316 acres.
How to cite this page
SueDataCenters.org Data Center Registry, "Microsoft Gaines Township Data Center," updated September 9, 2026, https://suedatacenters.org/data-centers/microsoft-gaines-township-mi.
Facility data from Compute Atlas (E. Kubiak), version 1.32.0 (September 7, 2026), licensed CC BY 4.0, record https://www.compute-atlas.com/facilities/microsoft-gaines-township-mi, retrieved September 14, 2026.
Corrections with a public source are welcome at the Compute Atlas record or through our contact page. The whole registry is available as CSV and JSON under CC BY 4.0.
Sources for this record
As compiled and cited by Compute Atlas, with our own reporting appended. Archived links are used where the original has moved.
- 1.Microsoft seeks rezoning approval for new data center in Gaines Township · WWMT · retrieved August 8, 2026
- 2.Gaines Township to consider rezoning for future Microsoft data center · WGVU News · retrieved August 8, 2026
- 3.Gaines Township proposed data center: What to know before the April 15 public hearing · WWMT Newschannel 3 · retrieved September 9, 2026
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