Data centers in Kalamazoo County, Michigan: 1 project mapped

Imagery: Esri, Maxar

Kalamazoo County has no data center under construction, and most of its local governments have paused them before any arrives. The one concrete proposal came in August 2025 in Pavilion Township, southeast of Kalamazoo, where the landowner, real estate firm Franklin Partners, asked the planning commission to add data centers as a special exception use in the heavy industrial zone for a site near South 26th Street and East N Avenue. Residents told WWMT they feared rising electricity and water bills and contamination of the water supply, and Consumers Energy said it could not disclose the counterparty or the site. Bridge Michigan later reported that a Kalamazoo County proposal was on hold after public pushback.

The pauses followed. Texas Township, home to nearly 18,000 people, enacted a 12-month moratorium from July 5, 2026; Supervisor JoAnne McFarland O'Rourke said no developer had approached the township, but the planning commission would use the time to study farmland preservation, grid and water capacity, noise, heat discharge and light. Kalamazoo Township, which does not currently permit data centers at all, adopted a one-year moratorium on July 27. In the city of Kalamazoo, residents spoke against data centers over several meetings this summer. "The community is patiently waiting for us to make a decision on this," Vice Mayor Drew Duncan said. The City Commission adopted a one-year pause by resolution in August, with staff directed to cover data centers, AI data centers and crypto mining, and in September set a hearing to write it into the zoning code so it is enforceable under state law. City Attorney Aaron Leal told commissioners that Michigan's Zoning Enabling Act does not allow a city to permanently ban a lawful land use.

The pressure is statewide. Bridge Michigan reported that Consumers Energy forecasts 2.65 gigawatts of new demand in its territory, against a state peak of about 18 GW.

Every project above is drawn from public records, filings and local reporting. Each row links to what it is based on. Statuses change, so check the source date before you rely on one. Found something wrong? Write to [email protected] and it gets fixed.