OpenAI, Oracle and Denver—based Vantage Data Centers, a provider of hyper-scale data center campuses, have named a construction team for the first phase of a $15-billion data center campus the companies plan to build west of Interstate 43 in Port Washington, Wis., outside Milwaukee. The development is expected to dwarf the $3.3-billion, 315-acre data center campus Microsoft is building in Mount Pleasant, Wis.
The construction team for the project’s $8-billion first phase—dubbed Lighthouse—includes Whiting-Turner Contracting Co., The Weitz Co., a joint venture of Turner Construction and McCarthy Building Cos. and Michels.
The complex’s first phase will include four data center buildings situated on 672 acres of the 1,900-acre site. The buildings will use a total of 1.3 gigawatts of power, Vantage says. Planned infrastructure includes parking lots with up to 200 stalls, generators, transformers, utility buildings and dry coolers.
The new campus is part of OpenAI and Oracle’s previously announced $500-billion partnership with SoftBank to deliver up to 4.5 gigawatts of additional Stargate capacity. The Midwest site was announced as part of OpenAI’s Stargate expansion.
The four data centers will provide nearly a gigawatt of AI capacity, Vantage says.
“We’re mobilizing now [for construction],” says Mark Freeman, a Vantage spokesperson, adding that construction is scheduled for completion in 2028.
Vantage has pledged to ensure the contractors employ local, union workers to the fullest extent possible. The company estimates that the privately funded project will require a peak workforce of more than 4,000 skilled construction workers over three years. Wisconsin is an open shop state that has a right-to-work law.
“Wisconsin has one of the most skilled and highly trained workforces in the country, and agreements like this prove it,” said Dan Bukiewicz, president of the Milwaukee Building-Construction Trades Council. “Every job created here means another opportunity for our local tradespeople to showcase their expertise and build careers right at home.”
The campus had faced opposition from residents, who cited concerns about water usage, habitat loss and light pollution. But Mike Didier, chairman of the Port Washington Town Board, supports the project.
“If they don’t build it here, they will build it somewhere else and probably close by,” he says.
Vantage says the campus will use a closed-loop, liquid cooling system that minimizes water use and reduces energy consumption. It also says it will invest in local water restoration projects to achieve water positivity, returning more water to freshwater sources than the campus consumes.
It says the campus will include solar, wind and battery storage development. About 70% of the energy capacity will be allocated to the Lighthouse campus, while 30% will be made available to Wisconsin consumers. Remaining energy consumed by the campus will be matched with renewable energy purchases annually, the company states.
While Vantage will develop 500 of the 672 acres for the four data centers, it intends to preserve the remaining land as natural space with more than 2,000 native trees and other landscaping. The company intends to pursue LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council for the campus.
