Southfield data center proposal: City council to hear public input Monday

Comments to be heard on proposed Southfield data center

The Southfield City Council is expected to hear public comment Monday evening about a proposed data center near 11 Mile and Inkster.

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (FOX 2) - The Southfield City Council will hear input from the public on Monday evening regarding a data center proposal.

Metro Bloks is seeking city approval to build a data center on a vacant plot of land on Inkster Road near I-696. The city council will review the proposal during a meeting that is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.

The backstory:

Metro Bloks wants to build a two-story data center with a 109,000-sq-ft building footprint on a 12.9 acre parcel of land.

During a meeting last week, the developer gave a presentation on a plan, and addressed concerns about the development, including noise pollution. According to the developer, the center is expected to be quieter than the freeway.

The development is also expected to add several high-paying engineering jobs, according to a representative with Metro Bloks who spoke at the last meeting.

The other side:

Some people have concerns about the impacts the data center may have on the environment, and electricity prices.

When questioned by Councilwoman Ashanti Bland about how much electricity the data center may use, developer Jon Crater said the data center is much smaller than other proposed facilities in the state, and thus would not use as many resources.

"It's important to note that the data centers you see in the news are the hyperscale projects at 1,000 megawatts or more. Ours is 100, so we're a lot smaller, and it's not going to impact the grid as much," Crater said.

Other development on agenda:

In addition to the data center proposal, the city council will also hear input about plans to build a Costco off of Northwestern Highway, near Telegraph.

Learn more about that project here.

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