Janesville moves forward with data center plans for abandoned GM site

Janesville is the latest Wisconsin community to consider plans for a data center development.

The Janesville City Council Monday approved a letter of intent with a developer for the redevelopment of the former General Motors assembly plant site for a potential data center campus. The letter of intent, with Colorado-based Viridian Acquisitions LLC, is the first step towards a project going up on the roughly 250-acre site.

Viridian will now evaluate an 11-building data center campus or an eight-building hyperscale campus for the site. The project is expected to need up to 800 megawatts of power.

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The council’s decision came after more than 20 residents spoke out against the proposal during a public hearing Monday. Other data center projects around the state have also been met with opposition from the public.

A yard sign on grass reads NO DATA CENTER in red and black near a sidewalk, with a street and trees visible in the background. — A sign advocating against a proposed data center is displayed in the lawn of a home located across the street from the former Janesville GM Assembly Plant on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025, in Janesville, Wis. *Angela Major/WPR*

“If data centers are so great, then why are so many communities fighting them?” said Janesville resident Julie Backenkeller, who asked the council to delay the vote.

Seth Lambert, the secretary of the Rock River chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, said his parents and grandparents worked at the GM Assembly Plant, which closed in 2009.

“Don’t believe the hype these data center folks are feeding us,” Lambert said.

“This council ought to listen to the overwhelming voices of the people and reject this data center project,” he said.

Janesville resident Cassandra Pope raised concerns about the environmental impact and the negative impact on people who would live next to the property.

“I don’t trust these big, billion dollar corporations, and I don’t trust our city government to hold these corporations accountable,” Pope said.

Grass grows through cracks in concrete at the site of the former General Motors assembly plant Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Janesville, Wis. *Angela Major/WPR*

The project would have an estimated direct economic impact of $2.05 billion for the state, according to a a memo from Janesville Economic Development Director Jimsi Kuborn. The end user of the campus has not been disclosed.

The 250-acre brownfield site is considered contaminated, according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Viridian would clean it up under a DNR-approved plan.

Erik Zitek, the director of development for Viridian, said the total investment in the campus would be over $8 billion. He said the project could create 1,200 construction jobs and the campus could employ 600 people.

In the 1970s, the GM Assembly Plant employed 7,000 people.

“We’re at the one-yard line,” Zitek said. “This is the first of hopefully many meetings. But this is something that is not going to happen overnight.”

The letter of intent is “non-binding and does not obligate the City to sell the property or provide financial participation at this stage,” according to Kuborn’s memo.

“Instead, it formalizes a mutual intent to negotiate in good faith and authorizes Viridian to proceed with due diligence, site planning, and utility coordination,” Kuborn wrote in the memo. “The City retains full discretion to review and approve any subsequent agreements or land conveyance actions.”

The memo says the city has 120 days to work through any negotiations with the developer.

The site of the former General Motors assembly plant remains empty Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in Janesville, Wis. The plant was closed in 2008 and demolition was completed in 2019. *Angela Major/WPR*

Claire Gray, the director of policy and strategic initiatives at Forward Janesville, said the site holds “enormous potential.” She urged the council to vote for the letter of intent.

“By not moving forward as the LOI (letter of intent) phase, we are risking continued inaction on this site,” Gray said. “If not this project, then what, and more importantly, when?”

Max Ryan, with the Janesville-based contractor company Ryan Incorporated Central, said his company has worked on other data center projects.

“I can confirm the construction boom of a project of this size,” Ryan said. “The trades workers will be very busy — restaurants, caterers, hotels.”

Before the vote Monday, Ryan urged the city to “get firm commitments from them (Viridian) and enforceable agreements.”

The council voted 5-2 to approve the letter of intent. Janesville City Council member Heather Miller voted no, citing public health concerns for people who live near the campus.

A quiet residential street lined with houses, leafless trees, and scattered autumn leaves; a playground with a yellow slide is visible on the right. — A neighborhood located near the former Janesville GM Assembly Plant where a data center has been proposed Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025, in Janesville, Wis. *Angela Major/WPR*

“Without being able to have input from someone about public health makes me concerned for the residents that surround this property,” Miller said. “And so I’m not convinced that we’re in the right place to do this LOI at this time based on public health.”

The data center proposal in Janesville is the latest in Wisconsin, with others planned in Mount Pleasant, Port Washington, Beaver Dam, Dane County and Kenosha. A state bill introduced last week seeks to place guardrails on data center proposals to protect Wisconsin residents.