Metrobloks says its data center is not Big Tech, but Martindale-Brightwood residents still tell them to 'go home'

After months of mounting tension, a California-based data center developer faced a skeptical crowd of Martindale-Brightwood residents Monday night to defend its proposal for the historically Black neighborhood.

Residents questioned Metrobloks’ plan to build a 14-acre data center on the site of a former drive-in theater at 2505 N. Sherman Avenue during a community meeting at Douglass Park Family Center.

Among them was Belinda Drake, who said she came with one simple question.

“Why continue to push for this if the community doesn’t want it?” Drake asked.

Hope Martin, a design manager for Metrobloks, told the crowd she did not share their concerns.

“I would love to live next to one of our data centers,” Martin said.

Martindale-Brightwood has become the latest battleground over Indiana’s rapidly expanding data center industry. The project is part of a statewide surge in data centers, fueled by artificial intelligence and state-approved tax breaks passed in 2019.

Metrobloks’ proposal has reignited longstanding concerns among residents about pollution in the area — including lead-contaminated soil — along with fears that the project could bring additional burdens related to noise, water use and power demand.

The Metropolitan Development Commission is scheduled to hear the rezoning request Feb. 12. A decision is expected on whether to recommend approval of the request.

As the Monday meeting stretched on, residents pressed the developer and its attorneys with questions about environmental impacts, utility costs and potential effects on property values.

“Why can’t you build in Hamilton County?” one attendee shouted about the nearby county whose residents' median household income is nearly double that of Marion County, according to 2024 U.S. Census data.

“Yeah, see if they want you,” another voice responded.

Answers from the developer’s team were often met with skepticism. Many residents held signs opposing the project and discussed plans to canvass the neighborhood and call neighbors ahead of an upcoming rezoning hearing.

Metrobloks attempted to distance itself from Big Tech corporations, arguing its approach would require fewer resources than larger, hyperscale centers.
 

Cierra Johnson, vice president of One Voice Martindale-Brightwood, a neighborhood organization, said after the meeting that her opposition to the project remains unchanged.

“We want Metrobloks to withdraw its proposal,” Johnson said. “We want them to go home and take their business with them.”

City-County Councilor Ron Gibson, who represents the area, attended the meeting. Recently, he submitted a letter to the rezoning examiner to voice his “strong support” of the project ahead of the public hearing. Gibson left the meeting early after claiming many of the attendees were not residents of Martindale-Brightwood. 

But Johnson pushed back on this, citing the end of the meeting when attendees were asked to raise their hands if they lived in the neighborhood. The vast majority of the crowd raised their hands. 

“He would have been able to see nearly the entire room is from this community,” Johnson said. 

Residents of Martindale-Brightwood say their skepticism toward new development is rooted in experience. Past projects have left the neighborhood with contaminated soil and other environmental issues. The Sherman Avenue site is a designated brownfield — land left vacant and often polluted by past industrial use.

During the meeting, residents pushed back on the Metrobloks staff suggesting that the project reflected community input.

“You said a little while ago that we came together and put this plan together,” said Val Tate, an attendee of the meeting. “We didn’t.”

Tate continued, listing the people she believes would bear the consequences of the project.

“If we had put this plan together, it would have taken into consideration my children, my grandchildren, my husband, my nieces and nephews — the homeowners who are going to have to eat whatever price cuts come with this, the people who have to drink this water, the people who have to pay these utility bills,” she said.

“So please, don’t ever say again that we came together.”

The Metropolitan Development Commission’s hearing examiner will hold a hearing on the rezoning request at 1 p.m. Feb. 12 in the Public Assembly Room of the City-County Building.

Farrah Anderson is an investigative health reporter with WFYI and Side Effects Public Media. You can follow her on X at @farrahsoa or by email at fanderson@wfyi.org.