Data center profile · Lordstown (mailing city Warren), Trumbull County, Ohio; former GM Lordstown assembly plant

OpenAI Stargate Lordstown

A former Ohio car plant that OpenAI named a Stargate site; SoftBank says the data center there is only a small proof-of-concept, and the plant mainly builds equipment

Proof-of-concept only. OpenAI named Lordstown a Stargate site in Sept. 2025, but SoftBank told the village in writing that no full-scale data center is planned there. The record shows an approved showroom-scale data center, a plant conversion, no lease with OpenAI and no stated megawatt figure.
No MW figure
for this site from any company or utility
SoftBank calls the on-site data center a very small IT capacity
1.5 GW
OpenAI figure for Lordstown and Milam County, Texas combined
program figure over 18 months; not a Lordstown number
$375M
price SoftBank's buyer paid Foxconn for the plant (press)
$88M land and buildings, $287M machinery; Aug. 4, 2025
6.2M sq ft
existing plant
proof-of-concept building is about 600 by 200 ft (120,000 sq ft)
OperatorSoftBank (site owner through Crescent Dune LLC); Foxconn runs the plant as contract manufacturer
CustomerUndisclosed; SoftBank-led site, OpenAI lease not on record
Planned IT capacity214 MW at full build-out (our estimate)
First building in serviceOur estimate: 2029 or later (no dated power path yet); company says 2026.
Next stepNo date published. In Sept. 2025 the company said the design was on track to be operational in 2026; nothing confirms it has started.
Power

Power and the grid

Sources on record, size not disclosed

Getting on the grid

Who supplies what, what it costs, and what is still not public.

  1. Sept. 25, 2025
    Existing infrastructure only
    SoftBank writes that the proof-of-concept relies on existing power and space and uses closed-loop cooling with no water. Local government · Oct. 2025
  2. Not set
    No utility filing found
    No electric service agreement, interconnection study or utility docket for the site appears in the sources. see Permits
Permits

Permits checklist

1 pending · 1 draft · 1 granted · 1 checked, nothing on file

Approvals a campus like this normally needs, and what we found.

Risks

What could slow it down

Money

Money on record

$375M
plant, land and equipment purchase (press)
Crescent Dune LLC from Foxconn, Aug. 2025; contract not public News report · Aug. 2025
Up to $3B
planned retooling for OpenAI equipment (press)
The Information and Reuters, Nov. 2025; unconfirmed in filings News report · Oct. 2026
$230,000
regional grant for the Hallock Young water line
held until the master funding agreement is final Local government · Oct. 2025

Not on record: purchase commitment by OpenAI from Foxconn: Nov. 2025 collaboration gives early access and an option to buy only News report · Nov. 2025

Timeline

What happened, and what is due

SitePaper trailConstructionPowerPermitsMoneyLegalUpcoming
  1. Aug. 4, 2025
    Money Foxconn announces the sale of the Lordstown plant to Crescent Dune LLC, a SoftBank-linked buyer, for $375M (press). News report · Oct. 2026
  2. Aug. 18, 2025
    Site Foxconn and SoftBank confirm a joint venture to make data-center equipment at the plant (press). News report · Aug. 2025
  3. Sept. 23, 2025
    Site OpenAI names Lordstown one of five new Stargate sites, with 1.5 GW across the two SoftBank sites. Company · Oct. 2026
  4. Sept. 25, 2025
    Site SoftBank tells village council in writing that the Ohio data center is a proof-of-concept and no large-scale one is planned. Local government · Oct. 2025
  5. Oct. 6, 2025
    Permits Village officials say the proof-of-concept showroom is already approved through site plan review. Local government · Oct. 2025
  6. Nov. 17, 2025
    Permits Crescent Dune LLC files water quality documents with Ohio EPA for a 160-acre expansion (press). News report · Nov. 2025
  7. Nov. 20, 2025
    Money OpenAI and Foxconn announce a hardware collaboration with no purchase commitment (press). News report · Nov. 2025
  8. Dec. 1, 2025
    Permits Village rescinds the data-center ban it adopted in Nov. 2025 (press). News report · Nov. 2025
  9. Jan. 5, 2026
    Permits Council adopts a 180-day moratorium on new data-center permits; the water-line funding agreement is still a draft. Local government · Jan. 2026
The buildings

Specs

~600 x 200 ft
approved proof-of-concept data center showroom (about 120,000 sq ft)
Local government · Oct. 2025
~160 acres
rear of the site, under Ohio EPA review for an expansion that includes modular data-center and server manufacturing (press)
News report · Nov. 2025
Up to 1,700 jobs
expected by next year, including about 400 current Foxconn workers (press)
News report · Nov. 2025
Who is involved

Owners, partners and builders

Owners
  • SoftBank Group: owner of the site and equipment through Crescent Dune LLC
  • Foxconn (Hon Hai): seller; plant operator and 50% partner in the equipment venture
Customer
  • OpenAI: named Stargate end user; also a collaborator with Foxconn on hardware
Decision-makers
  • Village of Lordstown Council and Planning Commission
  • Ohio EPA: water quality certification
Separate project
  • Bristolville 25 Developer LLC: a different $3.6B data-center proposal in Lordstown that drove the ban fight
Still unknown

Open questions

Where this comes from

83 records from 12 documents

Drawn from news reports, local government records and company statements, each kept with its date and source. The bar shows documents by type.

News report 7Local government 3Company 2
Evidence

Every quote behind this page

Grade key: A = the primary record itself (permit, filing, exhibit) · B = a dated official statement · C = news reporting. Map distances are our own measurements on OpenStreetMap and carry no grade. Allegations in lawsuits are marked as such in the quotes.

Power (10)
  • IT capacity: not stated
    “A proof-of-concept data center with a very small IT load”
    Local government · Oct. 2026 · grade A
  • Utility service: not stated
    “It relies on using existing infrastructure (power and space)”
    Local government · Oct. 2026 · grade A
  • On-site generation: not stated
    “It relies on using existing infrastructure (power and space)”
    Local government · Oct. 2026 · grade A
  • Ohio EPA NPDES Permit 3IN00398) and Lordstown Energy Center (Clean Energy Future - Lordstown, LLC, Henn Parkway) are separate third-party gas plants in the same village; Neither is dedicated to this campus; their MW is n
    “Clean Energy Future Trumbull LLC Sanitary Sewer in Lordstown & Ohio E.P.A. PTI”
    Local government · Oct. 2026 · grade A
  • Resident opposition to data centers in the village was heavy through fall 2025 (letters and testimony at the Oct 6, 2025 council meeting and after), focused on water, power costs, noise and the separate Bristolville prop
    “I know it was passed to have a component center here in the Village, they called it a showroom, but I feel it is a small data center in my eyes”
    Local government · Oct. 2026 · grade A
  • Water use poc: none, closed-loop cooling for the proof-of-concept data center
    “It relies on using existing infrastructure (power and space) and uses no water as it is a closed loop solution”
    Local government · Oct. 2025 · grade A
  • Power plan: grid
    “It relies on using existing infrastructure (power and space) and uses no water as it is a closed loop solution”
    Local government · Oct. 2025 · grade A
  • OpenAI names Lordstown one of five new Stargate sites; the two SoftBank sites (Lordstown + Milam County TX) are said to be able to scale to 1.5 GW combined over 18 months, a programme figure, NOT a campus MW (see confli
    “The other two Stargate sites being announced today can scale to 1.5 gigawatts over the next 18 months”
    Company · Oct. 2026 · grade B
  • Stated campus size: not stated
    “The other two Stargate sites being announced today can scale to 1.5 gigawatts over the next 18 months”
    Company · Sept. 2025 · grade B
  • Foxconn Chairman Young Liu confirms the Foxconn-SoftBank joint venture to manufacture data center equipment at Lordstown; preparatory work had begun more than six months earlier
    “Foxconn and Japan-based conglomerate Softbank will establish a joint data center equipment manufacturing facility in Lordstown, Ohio”
    News report · Oct. 2026 · grade C
Money and contracts (30)
  • SoftBank writes to Village Council correcting the record two days after the OpenAI announcement: the Ohio advanced data center design is a proof-of-concept with a very small IT capacity; no full-scale data center is or will
    “No, some reporting on the Ohio site was inaccurate and we are working to correct the record”
    Local government · Oct. 2026 · grade A
  • master funding agreement (water infrastructure): status, FINDING: not executed in the record opened through Jan 5, 2026
    “Foxconn site plan review and Hallock Young water line, I took about a couple hours this morning to review the drafted master funding agreement”
    Local government · Jan. 2026 · grade A
  • master funding agreement (water infrastructure): scope, Hallock Young Road water line improvements
    “we would still need to have the master funding agreement finalized. They're just reviewing my feedback to their red line changes, so we're still in the very preliminary stage”
    Local government · Oct. 2025 · grade A
  • master funding agreement (water infrastructure): funding condition, ~$230,000 ARC grant via Eastgate held pending finalized agreement 230000 USD
    “No, this is from Eastgate by way of ARC. Yeah, around $230,000 for Hallock Young”
    Local government · Oct. 2025 · grade A
  • Tenant status: announced only, no executed tenancy; the site operates as a Foxconn/SoftBank data-center equipment factory with an approved proof-of-concept data center
    “A proof-of-concept data center with a very small IT load”
    Local government · Oct. 2025 · grade A
  • zoning ordinance exception: exception, Section 4, Item C of the village data-center ban ordinance preserves the approved proof-of-concept showroom
    “it allows that an exception so that they are able to operate that showroom, that data center showroom, which they have already been approved for”
    Local government · Oct. 2025 · grade A
  • developer representation (written Q&A to Village Council): scope, the on-site data center is a proof-of-concept only
    “The advanced data center design in Ohio is a proof-of-concept. It is being built to show what the next generation of data centers could look like”
    Local government · Oct. 2025 · grade A
  • developer representation (written Q&A to Village Council): scope limitation, no full-scale or future large-scale data center at the facility
    “No, we are not building a largescale data center at the Lordstown facility”
    Local government · Oct. 2025 · grade A
  • developer representation (written Q&A to Village Council): utilities, existing power and space; no water (closed loop)
    “The proof-of-concept will be launched on existing land. It relies on using existing infrastructure (power and space) and uses no water as it is a closed loop solution”
    Local government · Oct. 2025 · grade A
  • developer representation (written Q&A to Village Council): purpose, Lordstown manufacturing feeds data-center developments outside Ohio
    “The key is using the existing Lordstown manufacturing capabilities to feed the modules to data center developments outside Ohio”
    Local government · Oct. 2025 · grade A
  • site designation (announcement, NOT an executed lease): FINDING: no lease, term, rent, termination or cancellation clause for the Lordstown site exists in any document opened; OpenAI's executed SB Energy leases cover Mi
    “One site is located in Lordstown, Ohio, where SoftBank has broken ground on an advanced data center design”
    Company · Oct. 2026 · grade B
  • Tenants: OpenAI (named Stargate end user in the Sep 23, 2025 announcement; no lease or tenancy instrument exists for this site)
    “These sites will be developed through a partnership by SoftBank and OpenAI that can scale to multiple gigawatts of AI infrastructure”
    Company · Sept. 2025 · grade B
  • site designation (announcement, NOT an executed lease): scope
    “One site is located in Lordstown, Ohio, where SoftBank has broken ground on an advanced data center design which is on track to be operational next year”
    Company · Sept. 2025 · grade B
  • site designation (announcement, NOT an executed lease): capacity, two-site combined figure only; no per-site allocation
    “The other two Stargate sites being announced today can scale to 1.5 gigawatts over the next 18 months”
    Company · Sept. 2025 · grade B
  • General Motors closes the Lordstown assembly plant (legacy occupant, NOT this campus). Lordstown Motors buys the plant in 2019; Foxconn acquires it from Lordstown Motors in 2022 for ~$230M for an EV venture that never s
    “The plant - a 6.2 million-square-foot factory - was formerly a General Motors manufacturing complex until it shut down in 2019”
    News report · Oct. 2026 · grade C
  • Foxconn announces sale of the Lordstown plant, land and equipment to Crescent Dune LLC for $375M ($88M land/buildings; $287M machinery); Crescent Dune is a Delaware LLC formed ~12 days earlier, described by Foxconn only
    “Crescent Dune LLC will pay a total of $375 million to acquire the site's buildings, land, equipment and machinery”
    News report · Oct. 2026 · grade C
  • The Information and Reuters report SoftBank plans to invest up to $3 billion to retool the Lordstown plant to manufacture equipment for OpenAI data centers, including Milam County TX; the figure is reported, not confirme
    “SoftBank plans to invest up to $3 billion in Lordstown to manufacture equipment for OpenAI's data centers”
    News report · Oct. 2026 · grade C
  • Operator: Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. (Foxconn), operates the plant under a Foxconn-SoftBank joint venture
    “Foxconn said it would remain in the plant as a contract manufacturer to support the project”
    News report · Nov. 2025 · grade C
  • asset purchase: post-closing operation, seller remains as contract manufacturer
    “Foxconn said it would remain in the plant as a contract manufacturer to support the project”
    News report · Nov. 2025 · grade C
  • collaboration agreement: scope
    “OpenAI today announced a collaboration with Hon Hai Technology Group (Foxconn) focused on design work and U.S. manufacturing readiness for the next generation of AI infrastructure hardware”
    News report · Nov. 2025 · grade C
  • collaboration agreement: purchase commitments, NONE; no financial obligations
    “While this initial agreement does not include purchase commitments or financial obligations, OpenAI will have early access to evaluate these systems and an option to purchase them”
    News report · Nov. 2025 · grade C
  • collaboration agreement: purchase option, early access to evaluate, option to purchase
    “Although the agreement does not contain purchase commitments or financial obligations, OpenAI will have early access to evaluate these systems and an option to purchase them”
    News report · Nov. 2025 · grade C
  • phase delivery: delivery not named MW (no site MW disclosed)
    “One site is located in Lordstown, Ohio, where SoftBank has broken ground on what is described as “an advanced data center design which is on track to be operational next year.””
    News report · Sept. 2025 · grade C
  • joint venture: scope
    “Foxconn and Japan-based conglomerate Softbank will establish a joint data center equipment manufacturing facility in Lordstown, Ohio, Foxconn Chairman Young Liu announced Monday”
    News report · Aug. 2025 · grade C
  • joint venture: ownership, JV 50/50; site and equipment 100% SoftBank
    “For the data center equipment part, we and SoftBank will each hold 50%. As for the equipment itself and the site, those will be 100% owned by SoftBank”
    News report · Aug. 2025 · grade C
  • Plant sq ft: 6200000 sq ft
    “Foxconn sold the 6.2 million sq ft (576,000 sqm) site and its machinery for $375 million to a recently established entity named Crescent Dune LLC”
    News report · Aug. 2025 · grade C
  • asset purchase: scope 375000000 USD
    “Crescent Dune LLC will pay a total of $375 million to acquire the site's buildings, land, equipment and machinery, according to documents submitted to Taiwan's stock exchange”
    News report · Aug. 2025 · grade C
  • asset purchase: consideration, land and buildings 88000000 USD
    “The factory and land will be sold by Foxconn, officially known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., for roughly $88 million”
    News report · Aug. 2025 · grade C
  • asset purchase: consideration, machinery and equipment 287000000 USD
    “machinery and equipment will be sold under a $257 million transaction on behalf of Foxconn's EV Asset Management subsidiary. A second batch will be sold by EV System LLC for $30 million”
    News report · Aug. 2025 · grade C
  • Acquisition price: 375000000 USD
    “Crescent Dune LLC will pay a total of $375 million to acquire the site's buildings, land, equipment and machinery, according to documents submitted to Taiwan's stock exchange”
    News report · Aug. 2025 · grade C
Permits and government (9)
  • The village ban fight (ban adopted Nov 2025, rescinded Dec 1, 2025; 180-day moratorium Jan 5, 2026) was driven by that proposal; Book nothing of Bristolville's t
    “An ordinance placing a temporary moratorium, not to exceed one hundred and eighty (180) days, on the granting/issuing of any new permits”
    Local government · Oct. 2026 · grade A
  • The writing it cites is SoftBank's Sep 25, 2025 Q&A, which established that a full-scale data center was never planned at the site; No established press corroborates a 2026 cancellation; treat as a distortion of the 202
    “Lordstown council members specifically asked whether a full-scale data center was planned — SoftBank answered in writing on Sep 25, 2025 that it was not (Village Council record, Oct 6, 2025)”
    Local government · Oct. 2026 · grade A
  • data-center moratorium (Ordinance 1-2026): adopted 6-0
    “An ordinance placing a temporary moratorium, not to exceed one hundred and eighty (180) days, on the granting/issuing of any new permits, as well as the receipt and processing of applications for permits for data centers”
    Local government · Jan. 2026 · grade A
  • Village of Lordstown Council: Ordinance 1-2026 adopted: 180-day moratorium on data-center permits and applications; Moratorium Committee established (McGrail chair, Bond, Moseley); Mayor's State of the Village reports Fo
    “An ordinance placing a temporary moratorium, not to exceed one hundred and eighty (180) days, on the granting/issuing of any new permits, as well as the receipt and processing of applications for permits for data centers”
    Local government · Jan. 2026 · grade A
  • Village of Lordstown Board of Public Affairs: Master funding agreement for the Hallock Young Road water line (Foxconn/SoftBank) still in redline review; ~$230,000 ARC funding via Eastgate held pending a finalized agreeme
    “We have a conference call scheduled with the SoftBank people for tomorrow, tomorrow afternoon, for whoever wants to participate”
    Local government · Oct. 2025 · grade A
  • site plan review: approved
    “they came to site plan review for their expansion and the proof-of-concept building, which is in essence a smaller 600 foot by 200 foot data center showroom has already been approved through site plan review”
    Local government · Oct. 2025 · grade A
  • Village of Lordstown Council: SoftBank's written answers to Council questions (Sep 25, 2025) read into the record; ordinance to prohibit data centers given first reading; Planning and Zoning Administrator confirms Foxcon
    “Is there a full-scale data center planned for this site? No, some reporting on the Ohio site was inaccurate and we are working to correct the record”
    Local government · Oct. 2025 · grade A
  • Section 401 Water Quality Certification, application documents: documents submitted
    “Crescent Dune LLC, an entity affiliated with Japan-based SoftBank Group, submitted water quality certification documents to the OEPA on Nov. 17”
    News report · Nov. 2025 · grade C
  • Village of Lordstown Council: Data-center ban adopted at third reading in November 2025 (press-reported 6-0 vote on Nov 3, 2025); the ban was rescinded on Dec 1, 2025 (press-reported) and later replaced by the 180-day mo
    “SoftBank previously purchased a former General Motors factory from Foxconn in Lordstown, Ohio... It seems set instead to serve as a factory that will produce equipment for OpenAI data centers. In November 2025, Lordstown banned all data center proposals”
    News report · Nov. 2025 · grade C
Site and other (15)
  • Construction stage: building, factory conversion and expansion under construction; 0 data-center buildings operating
    “Foxconn's broken ground on its new project, and eventually when that is operational, we're expecting about 1,000, 1,500 more employees”
    Local government · Oct. 2026 · grade A
  • Stage: building
    “Foxconn's broken ground on its new project”
    Local government · Oct. 2026 · grade A
  • County code: Trumbull County, OH (39155)
    “within the corporate limits of the Village of Lordstown”
    Local government · Jan. 2026 · grade A
  • Developer: SoftBank Group Corp. (through Crescent Dune LLC)
    “we are working with Foxconn and its partner SoftBank, Crescent Dunes, whoever they want to partner with”
    Local government · Oct. 2025 · grade A
  • Poc building sq ft: 120000 sq ft
    “a smaller 600 -- I think 600 foot by 200 foot data center showroom has already been approved through site plan review”
    Local government · Oct. 2025 · grade A
  • Announced: Sept. 23, 2025
    “Two sites developed by SoftBank are in Lordstown, Ohio and Milam County, Texas.”
    Company · Sept. 2025 · grade A
  • Current target date: not stated
    “an advanced data center design which is on track to be operational next year”
    Company · Oct. 2026 · grade B
  • Name: OpenAI Stargate Lordstown
    “One site is located in Lordstown, Ohio, where SoftBank has broken ground on an advanced data center design”
    Company · Sept. 2025 · grade B
  • Aliases: Stargate Lordstown; Foxconn Lordstown plant; former GM Lordstown Assembly plant
    “One site is located in Lordstown, Ohio”
    Company · Sept. 2025 · grade B
  • First announced: Sept. 23, 2025
    “OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank are announcing five new U.S. AI data center sites under Stargate”
    Company · Sept. 2025 · grade B
  • Original target date: 2026
    “an advanced data center design which is on track to be operational next year”
    Company · Sept. 2025 · grade B
  • None of it belongs to Lordstown, which has no SB Energy lease
    “The data center project in question is on federal land - owned by the US Department of Energy - at the Portsmouth Site in Pike County, Ohio”
    News report · Oct. 2026 · grade C
  • Address: 2300 Hallock Young Rd, Lordstown, OH 44481 (USPS postal city: Warren)
    “Foxconn is proposing to expand their existing facility located at 2300 Hallock-Young Rd.”
    News report · Nov. 2025 · grade C
  • Jobs expected: up to 1,700 workers by next year, including about 400 current Foxconn employees
    “the plant could employ as many as 1,700 workers by next year, including 400 who are now employed there by Foxconn”
    News report · Nov. 2025 · grade C
  • Expansion acres: 160 acres
    “performed an analysis on approximately 160 acres that comprise the rear portion of the sprawling site”
    News report · Nov. 2025 · grade C