The University of Michigan finalized the purchase of a 124-acre parcel of land on Textile Road in Ypsilanti Township, potentially the site of the university’s planned “high-performance computing facility” it will operate in partnership with the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
The Textile Road site is one of two publicly known spots for the planned facility. The other site, adjacent to the Willow Run Airport in Ypsilanti Township, would require the university to lease land owned by the Willow Run Arsenal for Democracy and cohabit the property with the American Center for Mobility.
UM Assistant Vice President for Public Affairs and Internal Communications Paul Corliss said in an emailed statement that the purchase allowed the university to maintain access to the site and did not mean the university had officially chosen the site.
“This purchase does not represent a final determination of where the facility will be located,” Corliss said in the statement. “Securing the Textile Road parcel ensures the university maintains access to this viable option as due diligence continues. The site selection process remains active, with no established timeline for a site selection decision, and includes rigorous evaluation of both the Textile Road site and property at the Willow Run complex in Ypsilanti Township.”
But the university’s plans have met pushback from local officials and residents. Ypsilanti Township Supervisor Brenda Stumbo said the university cut them out of discussions involving the planned purchase of the Textile Road site. The land is currently mostly natural space bordering the Huron River and two township parks.
UM Vice President for Government Relations Chris Kolb previously said the university followed all standard practices when informing the township of its plans. Because the university bought the land from a private owner, Norfolk and Western Railway, it had no need to discuss the purchasing negotiations with anyone else, Kolb said.
The university’s regents voted to approve an “Authorization to Purchase Real Estate” for the 124 acres located at 10455 and 10635 Textile Road in June 2025. The board approved a negotiated price of $65,000 per developable acre at the time and said it would use bond proceeds or central reserves to buy the land.
Corliss said Wednesday he couldn’t confirm the price the university actually paid for the land. If the board paid the negotiated price of $65,000 for the 124 acres, the total would be over $8 million.
Corliss said that to his knowledge, there were no lease or purchase agreements for land at the Willow Run site.
Township officials remain opposed to Textile Road site
Doug Winters, the township’s attorney, said Supervisor Stumbo hadn’t been made aware of the purchase until Wednesday morning.
“It was a couple hours ago,” Winters said. “She got a text from Chris Kolb, that’s how we found out.”
Township officials remain opposed to the site, he said. In the wake of Iranian drone strikes on Amazon data centers in the Middle East amid the Iran War, Winters said officials aren’t in support of a “high value target” being built in the township.
“The supervisor, the board are all against it, more so now,” he said. “But there were so many political forces supporting this, the university, Los Alamos, the federal government, the president, the governor. … The Legislature in Lansing needs to wake up.”
State Rep. Jimmie Wilson Jr., D-Ypsilanti, told The Detroit News last month he plans to introduce a constitutional amendment that would force state universities to follow local zoning ordinances and go through public processes, such as gaining approval from the local government’s planning commissions, before construction begins. This amendment, he said, was sparked by the local opposition to the university’s plans.
satwood@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: UM finalizes purchase of Ypsilanti Twp. site for data center project
Reporting by Sarah Atwood, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
