Status: Under Construction (Groundbreaking: Dec 17, 2025) | Location: Port Washington, Ozaukee County, Wisconsin, USA
The Lighthouse Campus represents the single largest private investment in Wisconsin’s history and a pivotal milestone for the global Stargate Project. Launched as a joint venture between Vantage Data Centers, Oracle, and OpenAI, this facility is purposefully built to support the massive computational requirements of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) research.
Covering 672 acres on the north side of Port Washington, the campus features four single-story buildings totaling 2.5 million square feet. Unlike traditional data centers, Lighthouse is optimized for high-density AI workloads using closed-loop liquid cooling, which allows for a near-zero Water Utilization Effectiveness (WUE). This technology is essential for cooling the thousands of power-hungry GPUs expected to be housed within the facility.
The project is as much an energy infrastructure play as it is a computing one. Vantage has partnered with WEC Energy Group to bring nearly 2 GW of new energy to the local grid, with the campus itself drawing up to 1.3 GW. To balance this footprint, 70% of the campus's energy will come directly from new zero-emission resources (wind, solar, and battery storage), with the remaining 30% matched through renewable energy purchases.
Economically, the Lighthouse project is a "once-in-a-generation" catalyst for the region. It is expected to create 4,000 union construction jobs at its peak and over 1,000 permanent roles upon completion. Beyond the technical specs, the developer is investing $175 million in local infrastructure upgrades, including wastewater treatment and road improvements, ensuring that the local community benefits directly from the presence of this global AI hub.
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Project Name | Lighthouse Campus (part of OpenAI/Oracle Stargate) |
| Location | Port Washington, Ozaukee County, Wisconsin, USA |
| Status | Under Construction (Groundbreaking: Dec 17, 2025) |
| Commissioning | Phase 1: Late 2026; Full Buildout: 2028 |
| Total IT Load | ~902 MW (Scaling to 1.3 GW site capacity) |
| Total Capacity | 2.5 Million Sq. Ft. (4 Data Center Buildings) |
| Tier Level | Tier III+ (High-Density AI Design) |
| Project Type | Greenfield Hyperscale AI Campus |
| Header | Details |
|---|---|
| City Name | Port Washington, WI |
| Population | ~12,500 (Small town with global scale infrastructure) |
| Urban Agglomeration | Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis Metro Area |
| City GDP | Estimated $2.7 Billion contribution to regional GDP |
| Per Capita Income | ~$67k |
| City Tier | Tier 3 (Emerging High-Tech/AI Hub) |
| Key Strengths | Near-zero water waste cooling, stable grid, union labor. |
| Header | Details |
|---|---|
| Developer / Operator | Vantage Data Centers |
| Strategic Infrastructure Partner | Oracle & OpenAI (Primary Tenants/End-Users) |
| Construction Contractor | Whiting-Turner, Weitz, Turner-McCarthy JV, Michels |
| MEP Engineering | Specialized High-Density Engineering (Liquid-to-Liquid) |
| Network Connectivity | Multiple diverse fiber paths (Dark and Lit fiber access) |
| Power Infrastructure | WEC Energy Group (We Energies) |
| Header | Details |
|---|---|
| Power Capacity | 1.3 GW peak (dedicated high-voltage substation) |
| UPS Redundancy | N+1 across all electrical systems |
| Cooling System | Closed-loop liquid cooling / Zero-water use design |
| Connectivity | Minimum 2 points-of-entry (POE) per building |
| PUE Target | < 1.2 (Designed for 100% uptime and efficiency) |
| Energy Mix | 70% Zero-Emission (Solar/Wind/Battery); 30% matched. |
| Header | Details |
|---|---|
| Announcement | January 21, 2025 (Initial Stargate Reveal) |
| Construction Start | December 17, 2025 (Official Ceremony) |
| Phase 1 Go-Live | Q4 2026 |
| Full Buildout | 2028 |
| Header | Details |
|---|---|
| Total Investment | $15 Billion USD |
| Funding | DigitalBridge Group, Inc. and Silver Lake |
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