After a contentious fight over a proposed data center on Indianapolis’ east side this year, the developer is scaling back their plans less than a week before the proposal could be approved.
Georgia-based data center developer DC Blox initially proposed a $2 billion data center campus with three buildings, up to a total of 420,000 square feet, that could house up to 56 diesel generators. The proposed campus is at the corner of South Kitley Avenue and the Pennsy Trail in the East Gate neighborhood.
The community pushed back, and now, the developer is proposing two buildings instead of three, with 25 fewer backup diesel generators and a larger buffer south of the Pennsy Trail.
DC Blox said the project will now be built in two phases. The first — a one-story, 70,000-square-foot building — will start as soon as the variance and map of the area are approved, with completion expected within two years. The second phase, a two-story, 250,000-square-foot building, likely won't break ground for about three years, with completion expected roughly five years from now, the company said.
“These changes reflect our dedication to building a campus that supports both technological growth and community trust,” the company, wrote in a statement.
The project now heads to the full Metropolitan Development Commission for a final vote on July 15. The developer requested a variance of use instead of a rezoning, so the decision is left to the commission and does not involve the City-County Council.
But Mikey Hess, a lifetime resident of the city's east side, said he feels the company should have been listening and incorporating the community’s concerns into its plans much earlier in the process.
“Where was this in April? Where was this two months ago? Three months ago?” Hess asked. “Why are we just now discussing some of these things?”
Data centers have become a major target of Indiana's economic development strategy. They’ve also become a wildly controversial issue in Indiana — largely because of concerns over water and energy consumption and the fast-paced expansion of the developments in the Midwest.
Indianapolis does not currently have any specific regulations for data centers. But the Department of Metropolitan Development is trying to create a new special zoning class for data centers. The proposed ordinance is now in the hands of the City-County Council after the Metropolitan Development Commission voted 5-3 to advance the regulations earlier in July.
The new zoning rules would not apply to data centers that have already requested rezoning changes — including the DC Blox proposal.
Farrah Anderson is WFYI's investigative health reporter. You can follow her on X at @farrahsoa or by email at fanderson@wfyi.org.
