 and Lighthouse Sustainability pitched a 423-acre data center site in Delhi Township, south of Lansing,...](https://cdn.baxtel.com/data-center/leap-pitches-10b-plus-700mw-data-center-south-of-lansing/logo/large_leap-pitches-10b-plus-700mw-data-center-south-of-lansing-featured.jpg){kind=logo}
The Lansing Economic Area Partnership and Lighthouse Sustainability pitched a 423-acre data center site in Delhi Township, south of Lansing, Michigan, on Oct. 27. Crain's Detroit Business reported the development is pitched at more than $10 billion, and Data Center Dynamics reported the campus could scale to 700MW. Del
Featured: Ground-level landscape photograph showing the rural Delhi Township acreage eyed for the data center campus.hi Township has a one-year moratorium on data center review that its board approved in April 2026.
LEAP is the economic development organization for Clinton, Eaton and Ingham counties, and it holds an option to purchase the property, known as the Holt Economic Opportunity Park. It secured a $6.5 million state grant for site readiness work, then issued a request for proposals and selected Lighthouse Sustainability as its development partner. Lighthouse, led by co-founder and CEO Gary Dorris, develops data center campuses and would build and operate the facility. No application has been filed and no end user has been identified.
The announced framework puts community engagement ahead of a formal application. LEAP and Lighthouse plan small-group conversations, individual interviews, weekly webinars and a resident advisory committee, and say residents will help define the safeguards and benefits a project must deliver. Lighthouse's proposal pairs renewable energy supply and battery storage with cooling that recirculates water. The pre-development agreement requires a community benefits agreement, and the announcement cites a $20 million community investment fund and, with Resilience Energy, a residential solar and battery program estimated to cut participating homeowners' energy costs by 50 percent.
"What we actually announced today is a process, not a project," said Bob Trezise, president and CEO of LEAP, who said the organization will do community engagement first. "We are not here to make a pronouncement, but to invite Holt residents to help shape a shared vision," said Gary Dorris, co-founder and CEO of Lighthouse Sustainability.
Delhi Township officials said they learned of the plan from the announcement itself. "The Township is learning about the LEAP/Lighthouse Sustainability announcement at the same time as members of the media," said Township Manager Tracy Miller, who added that board members have not received any land use application or proposal from a data center developer. The township ended its membership in LEAP effective immediately on Oct. 28.
Michigan has accumulated a patchwork of local limits on data center development. Baxtel reported in August that developer Raeden sued Gibraltar over a moratorium the company said unlawfully blocked its 100MW project, and that the state is considering a statewide moratorium under House Bill 5594. Baxtel tracks 77 data center facilities in Michigan, operated by 37 providers, with five of them in the Lansing metro.
The township board scheduled a special meeting for Friday at 5:30 p.m., where a resolution opposing data centers is the only agenda item, WLNS reported. The resolution notes that Dorris told residents during a webinar that his team would walk away from the project if the community does not want it.
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