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Oakland University Data Center Advance
Coverage from MLive, WDIV ClickOnDetroit, and others
Oakland University’s trustees have advanced a proposed data center and artificial intelligence institute near campus Lot 37 into a formal due diligence phase with Fairmount Properties.
The studies will assess environmental effects, infrastructure requirements, finances, and the revised site before design or construction proceeds. University officials say the facility would modernize aging computing systems and support research, while students and community members continue to question its environmental impact, resource use, location, and relationship to nearby sensitive areas.
The main update is a sharper, more concrete description of the project and its timeline: trustees have moved it into formal due diligence with a revised Lot 37 site, a defined 20-megawatt scale, and an estimated 18- to 24-month path to groundbreaking. The broader controversy remains the same, but the current version adds clearer details on scope, stakeholders, and unresolved issues.
The story is largely unchanged, but the current version slightly reframes the proposal as a campus modernization and research-expansion project while adding clearer emphasis on the pending review of finances, infrastructure, and environmental impacts. It also sharpens the public pushback around water and electricity use and the site’s sensitivity.