Microsoft Corp. has paused construction on portions of its multibillion-dollar data center campus in Mount Pleasant.
The company says it is on track with the first phase of its data center project, and is still on pace to spend $3.3 billion before the end of 2026. But it’s now reviewing plans for future phases of the project.
“We have paused early construction work for this second phase while we evaluate scope and recent changes in technology and consider how this might impact the design of our facilities,” a Microsoft spokesperson said via email.
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After the company reevaluates future phases, it will meet with state and local officials to discuss how the changes may affect current or possible future permits, the spokesperson said.
“We anticipate that this process will last months,” the spokesperson said. “In the meantime, our commitment to and construction of our planned data center campus continues with high priority for our business.”
Sean Ryan, a spokesperson for the village of Mount Pleasant, said in a statement the company was pausing some construction to “to incorporate new data center designs.” He said the village anticipates that the first phase of Microsoft’s development will be completed this year.
“Microsoft to date has proceeded with construction of its data center development in Mount Pleasant at an unbelievably fast pace,” Ryan said. “The company is years ahead of schedule in satisfying its financial commitments to the Village under our development agreement.”
When finished, Microsoft says the first phase of the project will bring one of the company’s “most advanced data centers in the world” online.
Microsoft’s project spans three separate sites in the village including 215 acres at the corner of 90th Street and Highway KR, 115-acres to the west and 791 acres at Durand Avenue.
According to the village, the phase of construction expected to finish this year is in the 215-acre site.
The company also started construction inside the 115-acre site to the west and began earthwork in the 791 acres at Durand Avenue, the village said. Construction at those two sites is paused.
In May, Microsoft announced plans to invest $3.3 billion to build an artificial intelligence data center on land once slated for development by Foxconn in Mount Pleasant. At that time, Microsoft pledged to bring more than 2,000 union construction jobs to the area.
The company broke ground in January 2024 as part of an initial plan. Since first announcing its plans, the company has steadily purchased land in Mount Pleasant, and now it owns almost 1,900 acres.
Plans for Microsoft’s data center campus came years after Foxconn promised to build an LCD screen manufacturing center in Mount Pleasant that would create 13,000 jobs. Now, Foxconn says it employs more than 1,000 people and builds data servers in the village.
While work on Microsoft’s development has slowed, Ryan said village officials “have no reason to believe” the pause will affect the “overall scope or nature” of the project.
“We appreciate Microsoft being transparent with Village leaders about the construction timeline for its Mount Pleasant data centers,” he said.
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