Howell Township Data Center Proposal (Van Gilder Site) Van Gilder family
A landowning family applied to rezone about 1,000 acres along Grand River Avenue in Howell Township for what would have been one of Michigan's largest data centers, with Meta widely rumored but never officially confirmed as the end user. After the township's planning commission recommended denial in September 2025 and residents packed public meetings over water, power, and transparency concerns, the family withdrew its rezoning request in December 2025. Howell Township has since adopted a moratorium on new data center applications.