A Georgia-based developer wants to build a $2 billion data center campus on Indianapolis' east side — but many residents say the company still has a long way to go to earn their trust.
Dozens of residents attended a Warren Township community meeting Thursday night to hear from representatives of DC Blox, the company behind the proposed development. Some attendees held signs reading "Block DC Blox."
The proposal is one of several data center projects advancing in Indiana as the state aggressively courts tech investment — even as residents have raised alarms about the industry's strain on power grids and fears over increased utility bills.
The proposed campus, at the corner of South Kitley Avenue and the Pennsy Trail, would include three buildings, up to a total of 420,000 square feet. The site is a former Ford factory. The campus could use up to 78 megawatts of electricity and include 56 backup generators.
Residents at the meeting raised concerns about power use, noise, water consumption and the health and environmental impact of digging up contaminated soil on the site, which is a brownfield. Others, like resident Julie Watson, said they felt frustrated that major projects continue moving forward in Indianapolis and throughout the country without meaningful community input.
"What we've seen in a lot of places across the country — these meetings happen, and then regardless of how the residents feel, the data center goes in anyway," Watson said after the meeting.
Data centers have become a major target of Indiana's economic development strategy, but the industry's need for electricity has put it at odds with a separate fight over rising utility costs. Gov. Mike Braun signed a law this year aimed at reining in utility rates, and critics argue large-scale power consumers like data centers make that harder.
DC Blox staff answered questions for more than three hours and described their vision as a long-term community investment. In filings, the company said it will make an annual contribution to the Parks Alliance of Indianapolis for trail stewardship along the Pennsy Trail for at least five years. The fully built campus will employ approximately 35 full-time staff, according to the plan of operation.
"Not all data center companies are the same, and not all data centers are the same," said David Armistead, the company's senior vice president of sales.
Indianapolis City-County Councilor Michael-Paul Hart, who represents the district where the data center would be built, did not support a proposed data center in Franklin Township. Google, the developer behind that project, withdrew its proposal in September 2025.
Hart said he has not made a decision on whether he will be supportive of the DC Blox development.
The proposal heads to the Metropolitan Development Commission's hearing examiner on June 11 at 1 p.m. at the Indianapolis City-County Building. The hearing examiner will make a recommendation to the commission.
Because the developer requested a variance of use instead of a rezoning, the City-County Council cannot override the Metropolitan Development Commission's decision through a process known as a "call-down." That means neighbors who want to stop the project will need to persuade the commission directly — there is no Council veto available.
Farrah Anderson is an investigative health reporter with WFYI. You can follow her on X at @farrahsoa or contact her at fanderson@wfyi.org.
