While there are lots of questions swirling around the data center project being pitched for Howell Township, the identity of the mystery high-tech corporation behind it has been revealed by a township board member.
According to a Facebook post by Howell Township Trustee Bob Wilson, the corporation behind the data center is none other than Meta/Facebook.
Wilson was among those on a field trip Thursday when a busload of Howell area mover and shakers traveled 3-1/2 hours to New Albany, Ohio, to check out the community, a growing hub for data centers and major tech companies including Microsoft, Amazon, and — you guessed it — Meta Facebook. While there, the folks on the field trip got to visit data centers.
Whether they toured the Meta data center there is unknown, but if you’re interested, it has its own Facebook page.
Wilson went on to talk about the benefits he sees coming from the Meta data center’s possible $9 billion investment in a Howell Township data center. “On our end, it will bring tens of millions of dollars to our community each year,” he said. “It may be nice to not see Fowlerville schools borrowing helmets from Howell schools to play ball.”
Wilson shared that Meta said the data center buildings will be a minimum of 500 feet from the road, and the rear and side setbacks would be doubled or tripled. The property will leave 80% of the 1,000 acres Meta is looking to purchase as green space, and 20% for the data center’s one-story commercial buildings. “They were big buildings,” Wilson said, “but built with some style.”
Whether the project comes to fruition remains to be seen. The first step takes place Tuesday when the Howell Township Planning Commission considers adding a research and technology district to its zoning categories. Should that be adopted, the planning commission would then take the second step of considering the rezoning of 19 properties in the southwest section of the township that total somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,000 acres from agricultural residential to the newly adopted research and technology designation.
The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 23, at the Howell Township Hall, 3525 Byron Road.
You can read our initial story about the data center by clicking hereclicking here.
