BREAKING: $55B Chip Plant Pulled from Genesee County After State Spends $250M Preparing Site

Crains Detroit Business broke the news this morning

FLINT, Mich. — FLINT, Mich. — A proposed $55 billion semiconductor plant once expected to bring 10,000 jobs to the Flint area has been canceled, leaving behind disappointment, frustration, and renewed debate over the future of a former school property tied to the project according to Crains Detroit Business.

The tech giant Sandisk had been exploring plans to build a massive chip manufacturing facility on a megasite in Mundy Township, just south of Flint. The state invested hundreds of millions in preparing the site in hopes of landing Michigan’s first semiconductor fabrication plant.

The company told Crains Detroit Business there were several reasons why they did not move forward with the project.

The news has rocked local and state officials who saw the deal as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to boost the region’s economy. But it also comes as a bittersweet moment for some area residents who were outspoken in their opposition—particularly those who fought against the sale of the former Moorish Elementary School, located adjacent to the proposed development site.

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Don Ludwig, a Mundy Township resident and critic of the project, had long voiced concern over how quickly local leaders seemed willing to give up community assets.

“This isn’t just about a factory — this is about a community being steamrolled without being heard,” Ludwig said in a previous interview. “That school means something to people here.”

He and others questioned whether economic promises were being used to justify decisions made without public input. “We were told jobs were coming and our concerns didn’t matter,” he said. “Now the project is gone, and they were ready to give away our history for nothing.”

Residents near the site had raised concerns about increased traffic, noise, and loss of green space. With the factory now off the table, attention is expected to return to the future of the Moorish Elementary property, which remains in limbo.

While the state says it remains committed to attracting advanced manufacturing, the cancellation is the latest in a series of high-profile letdowns for Michigan in the microchip race. Local leaders are now left grappling with how to repurpose the megasite and repair community trust shaken by a project that ended before it ever began.