Microsoft Boyd Farms (Maiden) data center, Maiden, North Carolina

Microsoft is building its Boyd Farms data center off Zeb Haynes Road in Maiden, Catawba County, North Carolina, one of four data centers it promised in 2022 to develop in the county for at least $1 billion. Construction began on April 1, 2024, and in a May 2026 update Microsoft said crews were making steady progress on the foundations, underground utilities and infrastructure, with the first slab pour planned for early June 2026; Microsoft has not published a newer update on the site since.

The general contractor is now Clark Construction, and Microsoft's May 2026 update said it may need controlled blasting to remove underground rock, a request that was under review at the time, with neighbors to be notified in advance and the work taking about two to three months once it begins; no decision on the blasting request has been published since. Microsoft slowed construction at its Catawba County sites in 2025, but the county's economic development president, Scott Millar, said in April the projects remained on track, since the company has until 2032 to meet the investment and job terms of its tax incentives.

As data centers became part of a broader national debate, Catawba County, the cities of Conover and Hickory, the Town of Maiden and the county's economic development corporation answered questions about the project's impact with a joint statement on June 23, 2026. "The current drought brings local water capacity into sharp focus and raises legitimate questions about what industries local leaders are trying to attract," the statement said, adding that the City of Hickory supplies water to all the county's data center sites and expects them, once running, to use about 1% of Hickory's daily water production capacity because they will rely mainly on less water-intensive cooling. The statement also said Microsoft's sites will pay property tax on the full value of their buildings and equipment, and that the local incentive agreements are being amended to reflect that.

Maiden already hosts Apple's first North American data center campus, opened more than a decade ago, and the region also has Google in Lenoir and Meta in Forest City; Microsoft's other Catawba County sites are along Tate Boulevard in Hickory, in Conover and along Stover Court in Newton.