Data centers in Calhoun County, Michigan: 1 project mapped

Imagery: Esri, Maxar

Marshall sold 270 acres of its Brooks Industrial Park for $1.12 million before most residents knew a data center was coming. On Oct. 30, 2025, the city's Local Development Finance Authority voted unanimously on a purchase agreement with Alterra Development for what it calls the Marshall Technology and Energy Center. Only 112 of the acres are buildable; the rest are split by wetlands beside Stuart Lake and the Brooks Nature Area. The first concept paired a data center with a gas generation plant, about a gigawatt in all. Alterra estimated 300 to 500 skilled jobs and said it would use closed-loop liquid cooling and create developable land through wetland mitigation. Founder James Jarvis promised to keep "the integrity of what Brooks Industrial Park and Brooks Nature Park represented initially." The purchase only opened a due diligence period, which Alterra expected to finish by the third quarter of 2026. Mayor Scott Wolfersberger has said the finance authority did not consider environmental concerns when it approved the sale.

The backlash arrived at a December finance authority meeting where the project was not even on the agenda. "It's our biggest meeting ever," chair Mike Beck said, as residents who said they had heard about the deal only days earlier lined up to speak. "You're treating our Brooks Wetland as if it's wasteland," one said. Several compared it to the Ford BlueOval battery plant, where they had also felt unheard. Wolfersberger argued that the land had been zoned industrial for nearly 60 years and that Marshall needed to replace employers it had lost: "We lost Eaton, we lost State Farm, we've lost Campbell Soup."

On Aug. 3, 2026 the City Council passed a moratorium delaying approval of any data center in the city for 365 days, citing uncertainty about electricity, water and heat discharge. The city plans to use the time to write an ordinance on low-frequency noise and vibration. Wolfersberger said Alterra has since dropped the gas plant, cutting the project's energy use by 60 percent: "It's no longer a hyperscale data center by, you know, most definitions." The noise ordinance is due before the moratorium expires on August 3, 2027, and Alterra would still need a site and project plan review from the city before it could build.

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.