Project Maize data center, Michigan City, Indiana

Google is building a data center, Project Maize, in Michigan City, Indiana, on the 67-acre former ANCO windshield wiper factory site at 402 Royal Rd, in LaPorte County, after the Common Council approved the project in September 2025. Google confirmed on April 16, 2026 that it had taken over the site, which had stood empty for more than fifteen years after Federal Mogul left it. Broderick Green, Google's data center public affairs manager, said the company would cover all power and infrastructure costs: "We don't just build data centers; we become part of the community."

Google was not the first developer here. Phoenix Michigan City Industrial Investors LLC, which bought the site for about $1.25 million in late 2022, had offered an earlier $832 million project with 30 jobs by 2034 against $42 million in tax abatements spread over 35 years. Mayor Angie Nelson Deuitch turned that offer down on July 14, 2025, after negotiations broke down over the abatement terms: "Any major project of this magnitude must bring tangible value and benefits to Michigan City residents," she said, calling the job creation limited and the tax impact unproven. Because the land is already zoned light industrial, Phoenix could build without the city's approval and without the incentives, and the Common Council approved the company's plans that September.

As construction neared, the argument shifted to who was doing the building. Operating Engineers Local 150 picketed over the use of out-of-state contractors, saying the public tax incentives made the hiring a public matter. The developer's attorneys sent strikers a cease and desist letter on October 17, 2025, and on October 29 two Local 150 members who would not move their truck were arrested for criminal trespass, police chief Steve Forker said. At a news conference on November 4, Mayor Deuitch called the picket a stunt: "This is unacceptable, and we won't be bullied. Michigan City will not be bullied." David A. Fagan, Local 150's financial secretary and a member of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation board, said the union wanted "solid participation in the project" rather than "a small part of the work", and that a public right of way had been treated as private land.

Deuitch, who had turned down the abatement the previous July, welcomed Google's arrival as a community partner and said the city was "spotlighting Michigan City as a hub for digital infrastructure."