OpenAI Stargate Michigan data center, Saline Township, Michigan

Related Digital is building the OpenAI Stargate Michigan data center, known locally as "The Barn," on 250 acres in Saline Township, Washtenaw County, for Oracle and OpenAI. Three 550,000-square-foot buildings are under construction, and Related says the campus will deliver over a gigawatt of power, with all three expected online by the end of 2028.

In December 2025 the Michigan Public Service Commission conditionally approved DTE Electric's contracts to supply the 1,383-megawatt data center, run by Oracle subsidiary Green Chile Ventures, and made DTE responsible for any costs it cannot recover from the company. The contracts run at least 19 years and require the data center to pay for at least 80% of its contracted demand even if it uses less.

The township board first voted to deny rezoning the farmland, but Related Digital sued, and the township settled with a consent agreement requiring it to approve the project and a tax exemption. On July 14, 2026, the board approved a 12-year, 50% property tax abatement based on a $4.8 billion valuation, far below the $43 billion Oracle had offered. "Billionaires and greedy politicians are never going to be satisfied," Saline resident Tim Bruneau told the board.

Later that month the board voted 5-0 to remove the cap after the township attorney warned it would violate the 2025 consent judgment and risk damages. Resident Kathryn Haushalter and attorney Ellis Boal then asked the Michigan State Tax Commission, on August 12, 2026, to deny the exemption, arguing the township skipped the public hearing needed to create the industrial development district the tax break depends on.

Boal also pointed to Oracle's exemption application, which lists February 6, 2026, as the start of property improvements. The Michigan State Tax Commission has not yet ruled on the challenge.