Another Midwest megaproject is in the pipeline, as Chicago-based Walsh Construction began work on a $1 billion Microsoft data center in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, the Milwaukee Business Journal reported on Aug. 27.
Earthwork and excavation on the site has started, the Business Journal reported, which will set the stage for foundation work to begin this fall. The project will partially fill a 2,500-acre plot of land set aside for a $10 billion U.S. hub for Taiwanese manufacturing giant Foxconn. Those plans never materialized.
The data center grounds cover 215 acres in Mount Pleasant, and is a segment of the 300 acres that Microsoft purchased from local authorities under its construction agreement, the Business Journal reported. A project overview on Microsoft’s website shows that the tech giant believes work will be complete by fall 2026.
Microsoft has divided the campus into two parts, per its project overview, with the southern half of the site the company’s current focus. The northern half will be a construction laydown area and space for future data center development.
The project will also create thousands of construction jobs, according to the Business Journal, which Laura Million, deputy director of the Racine County Economic Development Corp., lauded as a boon for the area. Million told the Business Journal that the data center would have a “significant impact locally” on construction employment.
Microsoft’s data center project has been in the works since March.