Project Peninsula data center, Cedar Springs, Michigan

An unnamed technology company wants to build a data center campus, known in county emails as Project Peninsula, in Solon Township, Kent County, Michigan, just outside Cedar Springs and about 20 miles north of Grand Rapids. County emails released under a public records request describe an 800-acre site near US-131 and 17 Mile Rd for a campus of 600,000 to 800,000 square feet costing more than $1 billion, and say only that the end user is not Microsoft.

Solon Township signed a nondisclosure agreement with Venerly LLC, and talks have run through the economic development group The Right Place since 2025. News of the project surfaced in January 2026, and in February the township paused new data center proposals for six months. It extended that pause in July 2026, and it now runs through February 9, 2027, directly affecting Project Peninsula. In June 2026 the planning commission tabled a draft data center zoning ordinance until July; no result has been published since.

The Stop Solon Township Data Center group worries about light, sound and air pollution, water and electricity use, tax breaks and the lack of transparency about who is behind the project. "We just want to maintain the rural character of our community and make sure that the businesses and developments that come in, they care about our community the same way that we do," said group member Katie Valtchev. Randy Thelen of The Right Place said residents' questions "have been addressed in other communities" with Microsoft data centers.

Any new proposal still needs the township's data center zoning ordinance, which does not yet exist.