Walbridge Breaks Ground on Stargate Data Center Campus

Walbridge, OpenAI, Oracle, Related Digital and Blackstone officially celebrated the start of construction on the Stargate data center campus, also referred to as The Barn, in Saline Township, Michigan, according to press releases from Oracle and Related Digital and reporting by Construction Dive. Per Construction Dive, the project is described as a $16 billion development on a 250-acre site. Oracle and Related Digital characterize the campus as the single largest economic investment in Michigan's history and say financing includes equity from Related Digital, funds affiliated with Blackstone, and fixed-rate, long-term debt anchored by PIMCO-managed funds, per the Oracle and Related Digital press releases.

Per ConnectCRE and Oracle's materials, the campus comprises three single-story data center buildings of about 550,000 square feet each, with the first building nearing completion. Oracle's release and Construction Dive state the construction phase is expected to generate more than 2,500 union jobs, and that approximately 700 union tradespeople will work on the site under a project labor agreement executed under the National Maintenance Agreement. The project team announced a $10 million commitment to expand and modernize the Saline Recreation Center and referenced prior local investments totaling $14 million, per Oracle and Related Digital.

"The Barn will bring tens of billions of dollars of investment to Michigan, creating thousands of good-paying local jobs both in construction and tech," Governor Gretchen Whitmer is quoted as saying in Oracle's press release. Mike Haller, CEO of Walbridge, is quoted in Construction Dive saying, "Walbridge has been building in Michigan for more than a century, and we're proud to continue that legacy here in Washtenaw County."

Industry reporting frames Stargate as part of a broader, nationwide wave of large-scale builds aimed at expanding AI training and inference capacity. Large single-story footprints - the ~550,000 square foot design noted in press materials - are common for hyperscale AI facilities because they simplify cooling and power distribution for high-density compute deployments. The financing mix described in Oracle and Related Digital releases, combining private equity, real-estate partners, and long-duration debt, mirrors recent capital structures for hyperscale data center campuses.

Editorial analysis: Projects of this scale typically surface three operational levers for practitioners and regional stakeholders: energy procurement and grid upgrades, substation and transmission investments, and workforce and supply-chain coordination. Reporting on Stargate cites community investments and a project labor agreement with North America's Building Trades Unions; comparable projects have used similar agreements to secure skilled labor and manage local permitting and utility work at scale.

Editorial analysis: For AI infrastructure practitioners, Stargate is significant primarily as capacity expansion rather than a technology milestone. The involvement of OpenAI and Oracle, paired with large private capital partners, signals continued demand for large, geographically distributed compute capacity tied to foundation-model workloads. For state and local policymakers, the scale and the stated job and tax revenue projections make the build a notable example of public-private collaboration around AI infrastructure.

• •Project timelines and the operational readiness date for the first building; ConnectCRE reports the first building is nearing completion, which observers can track via future construction updates.
• •Grid and power agreements, including any announced renewable energy or load-shedding arrangements, since large AI clusters materially affect local electricity demand; Oracle and Related Digital releases mention community and environmental commitments but do not provide technical power contracts.
• •Permitting, community engagement, and any legal or environmental challenges that could affect construction pace; the press releases highlight community investments but do not detail long-term mitigation measures.