On Oct. 14, 2026, the Village of Mount Pleasant, Wis., Plan Commission took up Microsoft's request to amend the previously approved master site plan for its data center campus at 12023 Durand Avenue, file SP-26-11 on the commission's Oct. 14 agenda. The amended plans show seven data center buildings, down from nine. WPR reported that the commission unanimously approved the amended site plan with more than a dozen conditions. The plan is not final: the Village Board, which approved the nine-building version in January, is expected to vote on it later in October.
On the same agenda, the commission also considered CSM-26-07, a certified survey map that would divide Microsoft land into two lots. Village staff recommended conditional approval of both items.
What the Amended Plan Shows
According to the village staff report in the commission's agenda packet, the amended plans show seven one-story data center buildings, labeled Buildings A through G, along with a one-story office and storage building and two utility substations. Supporting structures include a guardhouse, a salt storage building, a weather station, storm shelters and a fire pump house; site work includes ten parking lots, wet stormwater ponds, sound walls, perimeter security fencing and a 10-foot multi-use path along Durand Avenue. Staff described the drawings as master site plans and said the village requires detailed landscaping, lighting and other plans before it issues any additional building permits.
Fewer buildings does not mean less floor area. WPR reported that total building space rises from just over 5.2 million square feet in the plan approved earlier this year to more than 5.8 million square feet. Village spokesperson Sean Ryan told the outlet that the 5.8 million figure includes the data center buildings, offices and guardhouses but not the two utility substations. The staff report puts the estimated taxable value at $7,703,299 per developed acre; WPR reported that the comparable figure in the original plan was around $10 million. Ryan told WPR that "planners are using a more conservative estimate now for what the possible future value of the buildings would be."
The applicant's traffic study, as summarized by staff, assumes the north portion of the site, identified as MKE07 through MKE10, is built first, with the south and west portions built within five to ten years and full build-out by 2041. The study projects 350 new peak-hour trips at initial build-out and another 350 at full build-out. Staff noted that the study analyzes an earlier "MKE 07/15" layout rather than the current seven-building plan, and that it gives inconsistent employee counts.
The parcel is zoned C-4, and staff found that all proposed principal uses, including the data centers, are permitted by right in that district, so no conditional use permit is required. Staff also flagged a records issue: every civil and architectural sheet in the submittal was stamped "Proprietary – Confidential – Not for Public Distribution," and staff recommended that Microsoft confirm in writing that the plans may be released or provide redacted public versions.
The Conditions
Staff recommended 13 conditions for SP-26-11. Under the first, the approval sets only the general arrangement of uses, access points, internal circulation and building envelopes; each phase would need its own site plan approval, with full civil, landscape, lighting and architectural plans, before any building permit is issued. Others require the guardhouse to be relocated, attached to a principal building or granted a variance; a lighting plan and a landscape plan; WisDOT authorization for the Durand Avenue driveway and signal changes, plus a traffic study addendum and gate queue analysis; and alternative compliance approval for any sound walls or substation walls taller than 8 feet. The approval would lapse if the first building permit is not issued within one year.
WPR reported that the commission's approval carried more than a dozen conditions. Village Trustee Nancy Washburn, a member of the commission, made a motion to add a condition for Microsoft to look to add "noise protection" to a portion of the site, according to WPR.
For the survey map, Microsoft Corporation asked the commission to recommend approval of a two-lot certified survey map covering 535.70 acres north of Durand Avenue, divided by Louis Sorenson Road, and to accept dedication of the Louis Sorenson Road right-of-way, according to the packet. Staff recommended that the commission forward it to the Village Board with conditional approval, subject to corrections to the map.
What Was Said at the Meeting
Community development director Samuel Schultz summarized the change for commissioners. "There's two fewer buildings than the last site plan you saw, but they are actually slightly larger in square footage," he said, according to WPR. Schultz also said the square footage for the site "will likely fluctuate, maybe up, maybe down, over time."
A Microsoft spokesperson wrote in a statement to WPR: "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."
Context: Microsoft's Mount Pleasant Campus
The amendment applies to a campus where Microsoft already has a facility running. According to WPR, Microsoft announced in June that Fairwater, its first Mount Pleasant data center, was operational, and construction on its second data center in the village is expected to be completed in 2028. Microsoft was sued in July over noise complaints from nearby residents, the outlet reported, and the company also plans a data center project on around 240 acres in Kenosha, about 8 miles from the Racine County campus.
What Happens Next
The amended site plan goes to the Mount Pleasant Village Board, which WPR reported is expected to vote later in October 2026; as of Oct. 20, a meeting date for that vote had not been published in the cited sources. Staff's recommendation on CSM-26-07 is also directed to the Village Board. If the board approves SP-26-11 on staff's recommended terms, each construction phase would still need its own site plan approval before building permits are issued, and the driveway and signal work on Durand Avenue would need WisDOT authorization.
