Anthropic

Anthropic, the AI company behind Claude, is reportedly in talks for a hyperscale data center in Southeast Michigan. No general contractor has been named at this early stage, as the project appears to still be in site selection or negotiation discussions. This represents a significant new hyperscale opportunity in the Michigan market, which is seeing growing data center interest. BD professionals should actively monitor this project for GC selection opportunities, as hyperscale builds of this nature will require major construction partners. Urgency is moderate — outreach to Anthropic's real estate and development teams should begin now before contractor decisions are made.

Anthropic is the intended end user of a 1.8 million-square-foot hyperscale data center proposed in Lyon Township, Michigan. The project, called Project Flex, is developed by California-based Verrus and spans six buildings on 172 acres on Grand River Avenue. Detroit-based Walbridge owns the property and serves as general contractor. Anthropic is the third major AI company linked to a hyperscale project in Southeast Michigan, joining Google in Van Buren Township and OpenAI in Saline Township. Michigan's 2024 tax incentive package waives sales and use taxes for data center investments exceeding $250 million.