Microsoft Shrinks Data Center Count, Grows Footprint In Mount Pleasant

A Microsoft data center in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin appears in a June 2026 photo. Photo courtesy of Microsoft

Microsoft is planning to build fewer data centers at its sprawling complex in Mount Pleasant.

In January, the Mount Pleasant Village Board approved the site plan for the company to build nine data centers as part of an expansion of its plans in the village. The company is now amending that down to seven data center buildings.

“We continue to refine the design and layout of our expansion parcels in the Village of Mount Pleasant,” a Microsoft spokesperson wrote in a statement. “The changes in no way reflect a reduction in our ambition, they have been made to ensure faster development, allowing us to access this increased capacity quicker. We will continue to evolve our design and keep the community updated prior to beginning any vertical construction.”

While there are fewer buildings in the updated plan, the total square footage of building space is greater. The updated plan has over 5.8 million-square-feet of building space, up from the just over 5.2-million-square feet in the plan approved by village officials earlier this year.

“There’s two fewer buildings than the last site plan you saw, but they are actually slightly larger in square footage,” said Samuel Schultz, the community development director for the village.

On Wednesday, the Mount Pleasant Plan Commission unanimously approved the amended site plan. The village board is expected to vote on it later this month.

As part of the updated plan, Microsoft plans to build an office and storage building, a guardhouse and two substations at the site.

Sean Ryan, a spokesperson for the village, said the 5.8 million-square-feet figure includes the data center buildings, as well as the offices and guard houses. It does not include the two utility substations, he said.

Schultz said Microsoft’s plans could continue to change. He said the square footage for the site, “will likely fluctuate, maybe up, maybe down, over time.”

The Mount Pleasant Plan Commission meets on Oct. 14, 2026. Evan Casey/WPR

The estimated taxable value per acre is also decreasing under the updated plan, down from around $10 million in the original plan, to around $7.7 million in the amended plan. Ryan said compared to earlier this year, “planners are using a more conservative estimate now for what the possible future value of the buildings would be.”

“And this is just a more careful way to approach this exercise and know that in the end, if these buildings are built, it would result in a net positive in terms of the financials for the community,” Ryan said.

“It would show that even under these more careful conservative predictions of the future taxes that these buildings would generate, the potential property tax revenue still far exceeds the cost of service,” he added.

The plan commission approved the updated site plan with more than a dozen conditions Wednesday. Village Trustee Nancy Washburn, a member of the plan commission, made a motion to add a condition for Microsoft to look to add “noise protection” to a portion of the site.

In June, Microsoft announced its first data center facility in Mount Pleasant, known as “Fairwater,” was operational. Construction on Microsoft’s second data center in the village is expected to be completed in 2028.

Microsoft was sued in July due to noise complaints from residents who live nearby. Some people who live near the development have also complained about construction noise and dust, light pollution, traffic and a changing rural landscape.

The company also plans to build a data center project on around 240 acres in Kenosha about 8 miles away from the tech giant’s campus in Racine County.

Microsoft planning to build fewer data centers at sprawling Mount Pleasant campus  was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.