Related Digital's $16B Saline Township Data Center is Walbridge's Largest Project Ever

Walbridge, a Detroit-based construction and engineering firm, has been named the general contractor for Related Digital's $16 billion, gigawatt-scale data center project in Saline Township, Michigan. This development, exclusively for Oracle and OpenAI, is the largest single project in Walbridge's 110-year history and the largest economic investment ever made in Michigan. The 250-acre campus is unique as it's being built under a first-in-the-nation project labor agreement, involving more than 2,500 union tradespeople and apprentices. This agreement, executed under the National Maintenance Agreement, covers 14 affiliated skilled trade unions and aligns with a memorandum of understanding between OpenAI and North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU). John Rakolta III, president of Walbridge, emphasized the company's commitment to building infrastructure for American AI in their home state with union partners. Bruce A. Beal Jr., president of Related Cos., highlighted Walbridge's deep relationships with Michigan's building trades as crucial for this historic labor agreement. Mike Haller, CEO of Walbridge, underscored the project's demand for trust and partnership, expressing pride in creating union jobs in Washtenaw County and expanding apprenticeship pathways. The "Stargate Michigan" campus, projected to open in 2029, has already logged over 200,000 union trade hours. The economic impact extends nationally, with over $5 billion in direct and indirect labor investment from 14 states. Walbridge is also establishing a modular Safety and Quality Center on-site to support electrical apprentice training.