Project Skyway data center, Pine Island, Minnesota

Project Skyway is a 482-acre technology park that Ryan Companies is developing on the north side of Pine Island, a small city in Goodhue County north of Rochester, Minnesota. Google signed on in February 2026 as the first tenant, its first Minnesota data center: a 250,000-square-foot building with a 35,000-square-foot office on about 88 acres of the site, cooled with air rather than water. Construction has been on hold since May 22, 2026, when a Goodhue County judge issued a temporary restraining order sought by the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, which argues the city should have ordered a fuller environmental review; as of September 11, 2026 the case was still before the court.

On February 4, 2026, the city council voted 5-0 to approve a $36.6 million tax abatement for the project, and City Administrator Elizabeth Howard told the council the city would collect more than $131 million in new taxes over about two decades; the agreement requires the developer to create at least 38 full-time jobs paying a minimum of $31 an hour. Google has separately said the project will bring 100 permanent jobs and about 500 construction jobs, and has committed $20 million to infrastructure and $25 million over 20 years to Pine Island's public schools.

Several residents spoke against the abatement before the vote: Mary Bakeberg warned that "this data center could be obsolete by the time the building is even finished," and the Reverend David Derksen said: "Let's not move fast and break things. Let's slow this down."

At an April 2026 council meeting the debate grew tense enough that police were called, the Star Tribune reported, and in June the council adopted rules limiting public comment to 20 minutes total and barring name-calling. Mayor David Friese resigned the day before that vote, citing the demands of the job rather than the data center dispute; Brandi Veith Staloch is now Pine Island's mayor.

In September 2026, a survey of 656 respondents conducted by resident Susanne Blazek, who has a doctorate in social psychology, found 75.8 percent opposed the project and 19.2 percent supported it; critics called it a self-selected sample partly shared through an opposition Facebook group. Data center supporter Rod Steele disputed the survey, saying concerns about water, electricity and noise had "been dealt with and debunked." The case remains before Goodhue County District Judge Patrick Biren, who is weighing whether the city should have ordered a fuller environmental review before construction can resume.