Because data centers can require up to 100MW(!) of power generation; that Packard facility was built in ~1908 and went offline in 1958. It's highly unlikely that the surrounding area wouldn't require the same upgrades that a rural region would, too.

Lessee....The DTE Conner's Creek powerplant was torn down only a few years ago. DTE doesn't state a power capacity in MW. iirc, it is said data centers require enough power to run 1M homes. Connor's Creek could power 400,000 homes, when it was operating. That land is now a car storage lot for the Stellantis Jefferson North assembly plant. That site is about 4 miles, as the crow flies, from the Packard site.

The DTE Trenton plant site is about 27 miles downriver from the Packard site. The original Trenton plant could generate 1,060MW. The Trenton site is being rebuilt as a storage battery site, with a 1,100MW capacity.

Offhand, I would say the Detroit grid could easily support an additional 100MW of draw. Remember, the Detroit city grid was built to support nearly double the population the city has now.

People are fretting about how much cooling water a data center needs. The Packard site is less than four miles from the Detroit River.

The Packard site already has water and sewer service.

The Packard site is already contaminated.

Why rip up productive farmland?

Steve