Overview

A federal immigration detention facility under construction on a ~24.5-acre parcel at 7240 Holsclaw Road, unincorporated Santa Clara County, immediately east of Highway 101 and the Gilroy city limits. The site sits ~11 miles south of the ICE field office in Morgan Hill and ~8 miles from the Monterey County line. The project was leased in January 2025 but kept out of public view until April 2026, when residents spotted activity; greenhouse demolition and privacy fencing began in early May 2026.

Key Details

• GSA lease: $26.5 million over 20 years; awarded January 8, 2025, bearing the same solicitation ID as a 2020 GSA solicitation that sought Santa Clara County land for a detention center
• Footprint: ~18,700–20,000 sq ft project; earlier reporting described a building “as large as 4,000 sq ft with a sally port” — consistent with a holding/processing center rather than a large bed facility
• Landlord: ECG 6 LLC, a Beverly Hills entity sharing an address with Elmwood Capital Group, a real-estate firm (founded 2020) that acquires industrial facilities and procures GSA leases; tied to a separate immigration-detention proposal in Texas. Elmwood/ECG took title to the parcel weeks after the contract award.
• Intended occupant: ICE. DHS declined to confirm — “We have no new detention centers to announce at this time… ICE is actively working to expand detention space.”
• Zoning: Santa Clara County zoning ordinances prohibit detention/incarceration facilities on the site.

Procurement Pattern

This facility is a clean example of the GSA real-estate-intermediary model for ICE expansion: rather than ICE contracting a prison operator directly or a locality approving a land-use permit, a private real-estate LLC (ECG 6 / Elmwood Capital Group) acquires the land and signs a long-term GSA lease, with ICE as the end occupant. The structure (a) keeps the project off local land-use agendas, (b) leaves no public notice for 16+ months, and (c) reportedly recurs in Texas under the same firm — making Elmwood/ECG a procurement node worth national tracking.

Opposition

See county-fight entry monterey-county-ca-gilroy-detention-opposition. Santa Clara County (Supervisors Sylvia Arenas, Susan Ellenberg; County Executive James Williams) and Monterey County (unanimous May 19, 2026 resolution) oppose; CA AG Bonta “actively coordinating” on litigation; Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas issued a “Not Here. Not Ever.” statement (May 15, 2026); SIREN organizing community resistance.

Sources

• San José Spotlight — Federal detention center planned in South County (May 2026)
• KQED — Santa Clara County Leaders Say They’ll Fight Planned ICE Facility in Gilroy (May 2026)
• Hanford Sentinel — Work begins on planned ICE detention facility near Gilroy as Santa Clara County threatens lawsuit (May 2026)
• Local News Matters — Too close for comfort: Monterey County joins push to halt suspected ICE center near Gilroy (May 21, 2026)