A local vote can reveal that a data center is under consideration, identify the project entity, and fix the conditions attached to a public decision. It cannot prove that financing, utility capacity, construction, or every proposed phase will follow.
This audit follows five projects from official local records to later Microsoft, Meta, or Google confirmation. It also keeps two terminated proposals in the same comparison. The result is a stage-and-status model, not a binary project signal.
The cohort at a glance
| Location | Local record | Later identity | Current supported status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin | Microsoft agreements approved, March 30, 2023 | Microsoft | First facility operating; second under construction |
| Mesa, Arizona | Redale water and development agreements approved, May 17, 2021 | Meta, linked by later city report | Operating |
| Fort Wayne, Indiana | Hatchworks incentive actions approved, December 22, 2023 | Google, matched by address and announcement | First phase city-reported operating; construction continuing |
| Stillwater, Oklahoma | Planning and incentive-district actions, 2024 to 2025 | Under construction | |
| Rosemount, Minnesota | Project Bigfoot approved, December 21, 2023 | Meta, linked by city and company | Groundbreaking reported; not company-confirmed operating |
| Indianapolis, Indiana | MDC approval August 20; certification dated August 26, 2025 | No completed identity claim needed | Withdrawn |
| Valparaiso, Indiana | Exploratory land option, January 9, 2025 | No project presented for approval | Option terminated |
Mount Pleasant: approved agreements to an operating Microsoft facility
On March 30, 2023, the Mount Pleasant Village Board approved purchase, development, and implementation agreements for a Microsoft data center campus on approximately 315 acres. The village said the transaction remained subject to local approvals and Racine County action. A separate municipal fact sheet described development deadlines and a village repurchase right if construction did not begin.
Microsoft announced a broader Wisconsin investment on May 8, 2024. On June 23, 2026, it reported that the first Mount Pleasant facility was operational and a second remained under construction. The 2023 record established agreements and conditions, not the eventual operating date or expansion.
Mesa: a water agreement to an operating Meta campus
On May 17, 2021, the Mesa City Council approved Resolution 11680 by a 6 to 1 vote. It authorized development and sustainable water service agreements with Redale LLC for a large data center project on approximately 396 acres. The official minutes preserve the action and vote. A later City of Mesa financial report identifies the agreement as part of the Meta project.
Meta announced the Mesa data center on August 12, 2021 and reported it was serving traffic on January 30, 2025. The council record did not prove the construction schedule, final buildout, or actual operating water demand.
Fort Wayne: incentive actions to a Google campus
On December 22, 2023, the Fort Wayne Common Council approved two actions involving Hatchworks LLC and 5801 Adams Center Road. Resolution R-23-12-14 confirmed an Economic Revitalization Area, and Resolution S-23-12-04 approved a taxpayer agreement. Both received seven affirmative votes in the official minutes.
Google announced a Fort Wayne data center investment on April 26, 2024. The city's current project page reports that the first phase is operational and construction is continuing. The council action fixed an entity, address, incentive area, and approved agreement. It did not establish the eventual campus size.
Stillwater: conditional plans to Google construction
Stillwater's record contains several public stages. The Planning Commission recommended approval of the project plan on July 16, 2024. Public hearings followed on October 7 and November 4. The city's project timeline later reported that all participating taxing jurisdictions had approved a 25-year tax incentive district in January 2025.
Google identified Stillwater in an August 13, 2025 announcement and described the campus as under construction on April 30, 2026. The city's October 7 draft project plan says the precise number and size of data centers may change and notes that fewer than six may be built. That language rules out treating the plan as a fixed buildout forecast.
Rosemount: Project Bigfoot to a Meta groundbreaking
Rosemount moved its December 19 Council meeting to December 21. At the December 21 meeting, the Council adopted the UMore AUAR update and approved Jimnist LLC's Project Bigfoot plans for a proposed technology campus on approximately 280 acres. Municipal materials described two primary buildings, supporting buildings, utilities, parking, and stormwater infrastructure. The sequence supports a short procedural pause followed by approval, not a rejection.
The city later identified Project Bigfoot and Jimnist as Meta on its development page. Meta announced the Rosemount campus on March 14, 2024. Its current location page lists a 2024 groundbreaking and describes operating jobs in future-completion terms. No company announcement that the campus was serving traffic was located by the audit date.
Two public records that did not become completed projects
Indianapolis: planning certification followed by withdrawal
Rezoning case 2025-CZN-814 covered approximately 467.66 acres proposed for a data center campus. The Metropolitan Development Commission approved the case at its August 20, 2025 hearing and issued a certification report dated August 26. The petitioner later withdrew it. The commission acknowledged the withdrawal on October 1, and the City-County Council unanimously withdrew Proposal 306 on October 6, as recorded in the official council minutes. Planning approval did not make the project durable.
Valparaiso: an exploratory option terminated before project review
On January 9, 2025, the Valparaiso Redevelopment Commission approved an option agreement with Agincourt Investments. The city's statement said rezoning, utility review, development agreements, and other approvals would still be required. At the March 13 meeting, officials stated that no project had been approved or presented. The commission unanimously terminated the option and released the escrowed funds, documented in the official packet and minutes.
What the records support
- Official local records can fix a location, entity, agreement, condition, and public stage before a later company update.
- Municipal and company records can sometimes resolve an applicant or project code to an operator.
- Later official sources can distinguish operating, under construction, not yet confirmed operating, withdrawn, and terminated outcomes.
- Negative outcomes belong in the same dataset as projects that advanced.
What the records do not support
- No approval is treated as proof that construction, utility service, financing, or every phase will occur.
- No local record is used to infer operating power or water demand.
- No event date is described as the first time information became public or investable.
- No claim is made about market returns, trading value, completeness, or a fixed lead-time advantage.
- No unconfirmed code-name match is included as a positive identity.
A minimum decision-arc record
A municipal-intelligence product should preserve the record event date, decision body, decision stage, project entity, identity confidence and source, approval conditions, current outcome, last verification date, and withdrawal, expiration, or supersession history. The raw local action and later status should remain separate events.
Aiken County's Project Sabal was excluded from the positive cohort. The local industrial-park record and Meta's later Aiken announcement match by location, but the located first-party sources do not explicitly state that Project Sabal became Meta. A location match is not the same as a confirmed identity.
Sources and method
Sources were checked through August 3, 2026. The audit used official municipal records, city project pages, and first-party company announcements. It reports only the stage and status those records support.
- Mount Pleasant: village agreement announcement; municipal fact sheet; Microsoft 2024 announcement; Microsoft 2026 update.
- Mesa: Resolution 11680; council minutes; city financial report; Meta announcement; Meta operating update.
- Fort Wayne: council minutes; Google announcement; city project page.
- Stillwater: October 7 draft project plan; Ordinance No. 3546 first-reading record; city timeline; 2025 city review; Google 2025 announcement; Google 2026 update.
- Rosemount: December 5 meeting record; December 21 approval record; city development and identity page; Meta announcement; Meta location status.
- Non-completions: Indianapolis adopted MDC minutes; Indianapolis certification and report; Indianapolis council minutes; Valparaiso city statement; Valparaiso commission packet and minutes.
This is a public-record research example. It is not investment advice, a project-feasibility assessment, a utility-capacity study, or a prediction of construction or company activity.