Drone shots show massive data center "The Barn" taking shape near Saline

Name: Drone shots show massive data center "The Barn" taking shape near Saline
Uploaded: 2026-09-18T18:28:36.000Z
Duration: 45 s
Description: Drone footage shows significant progress on "The Barn," Michigan's largest data center, a $16 billion project by developer Related Digital for Oracle and OpenAI near Saline. Construction company Walbridge has surpassed 1 million work hours, with two of the three massive buildings partially framed and roofed. The campus will include data center buildings, warehouses, and electrical substations.

News Clip0:45MLive·Saline, Oscoda County, MI·9/18/2026

Drone footage shows significant progress on "The Barn," Michigan's largest data center, a $16 billion project by developer Related Digital for Oracle and OpenAI near Saline. Construction company Walbridge has surpassed 1 million work hours, with two of the three massive buildings partially framed and roofed. The campus will include data center buildings, warehouses, and electrical substations.

announcementelectricity

OracleOpenAI

Gov: Gov. Gretchen Whitmer

Michigan’s largest data center - a $16 billion construction project by developer Related Digital for tech giants Oracle and OpenAI - recently hit a milestone as several of the massive buildings took shape on the site.

Developer Related Digital announced at the end of August that workers from construction company Walbridge had surpassed 1 million work hours on the site.

The project, known as The Barn, began construction last winter, with the first structural steel going up in March and the formal groundbreaking - attended by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer - on June 1.

On Thursday, Sept. 17, two of the three massive data center buildings could be seen framed out and partially roofed. The campus will eventually house three data center buildings at 550,000 square feet each, as well as warehouses and electrical substations.

Jacob Hamilton | MLive.com