DETROIT, MI — Walbridge, the Detroit, Michigan-headquartered construction and engineering firm, is serving as the general contractor for Related Digital's Saline Township data center development — the single largest project in the company's 110-year history and the largest economic investment ever made in the state of Michigan. Developed by Related Digital exclusively for Oracle and OpenAI, the $16 billion, gigawatt-scale campus is being built under a first-in-the-nation project labor agreement covering more than 2,500 union tradespeople and apprentices.
More than 200,000 union trade hours have already been logged on the 250-acre site, with hundreds of Michigan tradespeople on site every day.
"This is the project of our lifetime," said John Rakolta III, President of Walbridge. "Building the infrastructure that will power the next generation of American AI — in our home state, with our union partners, on a campus of this scale — is exactly the work this company was built to do. Walbridge has been part of Michigan's industrial story for more than a century. We intend to help write the next one."
Founded in Detroit in 1916, Walbridge has spent 110 years building the structures that define Michigan — manufacturing plants, automotive facilities, hospitals, and universities. The Stargate Michigan campus represents a new chapter: one of the most technically complex construction projects in the country, awarded to a Michigan company, built by Michigan workers.
The partnership between Related Digital and Walbridge began at the earliest stages of the project, with that collaboration being central to the design of the project labor agreement, executed under the National Maintenance Agreement and governing all 14-signatory affiliated skilled trade unions. It is the first data center in the country to be built under the memorandum of understanding between OpenAI and North America's Building Trades Unions.
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| SITECH Michigan |
| SITECH Michigan |
"Walbridge's understanding of what it takes to deliver a project of this scale and clear commitment to building to the highest standards of safety and craftsmanship made them the right partner from day one," said Bruce A. Beal Jr., President of Related Companies. "Their deep relationships with the Michigan building trades, developed over a century of working together, led the way for this historic labor agreement. Together, we are delivering a model of responsible AI infrastructure development in America, one that is strengthening Michigan workers and manufacturing across our country."
"A project of this scale demands more than technical capability; it demands trust, partnership, and a shared commitment to the community where we are building," said Mike Haller, CEO of Walbridge. "We are proud to help shape an agreement that creates good union jobs in Washtenaw County, expands apprenticeship pathways across Michigan, and sets a national standard for how this new generation of critical infrastructure should be built."
Walbridge is also establishing a modular Safety and Quality Center on the Saline Township campus to support electrical apprentice training and expand the pipeline of skilled tradespeople needed to build out AI infrastructure across the region.
The economic footprint of Stargate Michigan extends well beyond the construction site. Across the United States, the project represents over $5 billion in direct and indirect labor investment, drawing on contractors, tradespeople, and manufacturers from 14 states.
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| AIS Construction Equipment |
| AIS Construction Equipment |
Michigan companies are delivering some of the most technically demanding work on the campus. Kais-Air, a Michigan-based firm, is responsible for both the mechanical and electrical skid assemblies and the hot aisle containment systems.
From complex mechanical systems to the foundational materials, this campus is being built with Michigan expertise.
The 250-acre campus, known as "The Barn" for the historic red barn preserved at its Michigan Avenue entrance, includes:
- Three 550,000-square-foot single-story data halls, totaling more than 1.65 million square feet of LEED-certified data center space
- Closed-loop cooling systems limiting daily water use to levels comparable to a standard office building, protecting Michigan's water resources and the Great Lakes
- 100 percent of power supplied by DTE Energy from existing resources, augmented by a new project-financed battery storage investment, with infrastructure costs borne entirely by the project and creating a $300 million annual affordability benefit for customers
- More than 2,500 union construction jobs during the build and an estimated 450 permanent onsite jobs
- Hundreds of acres preserved as farmland, wetlands, and open space
- $14 million in direct investment in local fire services and new community and farmland preservation funds
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| SITECH Michigan |
| SITECH Michigan |
Bringing the project to life is a team of local trade partners:
- Motor City Electric
- Progressive Mechanical Inc.
- John E. Green
- Shaw/E-J Electric
- Superior Electric Great Lakes
- Triangle Electric
- Universal Piping Industries Photo and rendering courtesy of Related Digital
