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Last Update: 10/27/2026 at 5:34 AM EST
The Saline Barn
Coverage from Ecology Center, The Detroit News, and others
The Saline Barn is a large data-center campus being developed by Related Digital in Saline Township, Michigan, for planned use by OpenAI and Oracle.
Its path from land-use approvals to construction has involved a settlement permitting rezoning, tax incentives, power-supply proceedings, and environmental review, including a wastewater permit. The project has also drawn local scrutiny over farmland, traffic, utility demands, and environmental effects, alongside attention to union construction jobs, apprenticeships, and community investments. Together, these issues make the campus a consequential local development as well as a major infrastructure project.
Looking Back
156 Day Timeline
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All Articles15 articles
Important
Oracle and OpenAI are developing a 1.4-gigawatt data center in Saline Township, Michigan, for a planned late-2027 opening amid debate and litigation over electricity costs.
10/12/2026 • Power Procurement & Grid • General
Oracle and OpenAI's Saline Township data center has employed about 1,000 union construction workers in Michigan while intensifying debate over power costs, environmental effects, and community benefits.
9/7/2026 • Community & Local Opposition • General
Michigan EGLE is accepting comments through Aug. 24 on Related Digital's proposed wastewater discharge permit for The Barn in Saline Township.
7/15/2026 • Permitting & Regulation • General
Saline Township, Michigan approved construction of the $16 billion Stargate AI data center in 2024 after rezoning denial, litigation, and a consent judgment tied to water and noise restrictions.
7/16/2026 • Community & Local Opposition • General
Michigan regulators opened public comment on a permit for Oracle and OpenAI's Saline Township data center to discharge treated wastewater into the Saline River.
8/3/2026 • Permitting & Regulation • General
Interesting
Saline Township officials said dewatering for an Oracle and OpenAI hyperscale data center lowered a nearby pond and groundwater table, leading to replenishment and ongoing EGLE-permitted monitoring in Michigan.
7/14/2026 • Water & Cooling • General
Oracle and OpenAI-backed leadership attended a Saline Township, Michigan groundbreaking in response to resident concerns about water use and traffic for a $16 billion data center campus.
6/1/2026 • Community & Local Opposition • General
Related Digital and Saline Township, Michigan settled a zoning dispute allowing a 21 million-square-foot data center tied to OpenAI and Oracle under Stargate.
5/10/2026 • Community & Local Opposition • General
Saline Township, Michigan must act on a court-required 12-year property-tax abatement for Oracle and OpenAI’s The Barn as residents and analysts dispute tax equity and local impacts.
7/13/2026 • Project Finance & Incentives • General
Sam Altman and Oracle executives visited The Saline Barn under construction in Saline Township, Michigan, as rezoning, a 12-year tax abatement, and local opposition shape the $16 billion AI data center project.
6/1/2026 • Infrastructure & Site Development • General
Related Digital is building The Barn data center campus near Saline, Michigan, for Oracle and OpenAI, while regulators and local officials address wastewater, land-use, tax, and power issues.
9/17/2026 • Infrastructure & Site Development • General
Saline Township Michigan approved July 17 removal of a valuation cap for an Oracle and OpenAI IFEC tax break, citing compliance with a court-ordered consent judgment.
7/15/2026 • Project Finance & Incentives • General
Additional
Related Digital purchased Rustic Glen Golf Club in Saline, Michigan, while developing The Barn data center next door amid continuing zoning, tax, and community disputes.
8/24/2026 • Community & Local Opposition • General
Executives and elected officials held a groundbreaking in Saline Township, Michigan, for The Barn multibillion-dollar data center campus using closed-loop air cooling, amid nearby resident protests.
6/1/2026 • Community & Local Opposition • General
Oracle and OpenAI launched construction on the The Barn Stargate campus in Saline Township, Michigan, on June 1, 2026, planning three buildings and more than one gigawatt of capacity.
6/15/2026 • Infrastructure & Site Development • General