Town Stuck With Costs Of Gov. Whitmer’s $55B Megasite Project

A $55 billion project which state officials bragged would bring an upwards of 10,000 jobs to Genesee County is no more, but not after demolishing hundreds of homes and leaving Michigan taxpayers on the hook for the Whitmer administration-backed plan.

“No plan.”
Reports of Sandisk Corp. backing out of the project surfaced on Wednesday. Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said the “Project Grit” development will not move forward, despite the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) already spending $269 million of taxpayer money for the project.

“There’s no plan. There’s no buyer,” said resident Jennifer Arrand Stainton told Michigan News Source. “It’s a mess.”

Wrecking ball hits home.
But the 1,194 empty acres that have been prepared for the now scrapped megasite aren’t the only question marks. It’s the hundreds of homes that are on the chopping block to make way for it.

“An upwards of 200 residents’ [homes] have either been purchased, demolished or they have contracts on razing homes,” Stainton said.

Stainton, who serves as the Mundy Township Supervisor but spoke to Michigan News Source as a resident, said there is good news for the area.

“It is stopped at this point,” she said, referring to the environmental impact on the neighborhoods. “We are not allowing contamination and we’re keeping it as rural community.”

Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson, who is running as a Democrat in the 2026 gubernatorial race, appeared to distance himself from the current administration. “Decisions made a the policy level have a direct impact on local economies and people,” he said.

Whitmer and the MEDC have both given their stamp of approval on several other megasite projects statewide that have been met with similar disappointment and community pushback. A megasite project in Clinton County is no longer moving forward. Gotion in Big Rapids and CATL in Marshall involve Chinese companies incentivized with taxpayer funds.