INDIANAPOLIS — The proposed $500 million Metrobloks data center in the Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood appears to be moving forward, after a Feb. 12 Metropolitan Development Commission hearing examiner recommended the MDC pass the rezoning request. The project at 2505 N. Sherman Dr. has prompted intense concern in the area, and many oppose it due to health, environmental, and economic concerns. Neighbors plan to appeal the decision before the Metropolitan Development Commission takes its next steps March 4.
The site on Sherman where Metrobloks wants to build the data center is a designated brownfield, contaminated by past industrial use. It has been vacant for about 40 years. District Councilor Ron Gibson supports the Metrobloks proposal, seeing its redevelopment as an opportunity to create a productive, modern facility that could attract positive economic activity to the broader community.
Metrobloks has indicated it will use architectural landscaping, commission local art, and stated the facility will not heavily affect local traffic. Residents are concerned, however, that increased utility usage for the center will affect electricity and water costs for homeowners, and further strain grid capacity.
The Martindale-Brightwood data center is just one of many proposed in the Indianapolis area. Due to a combination of cheap, plentiful land, strategic location as the “Crossroads of America,” and access to major fiber routes. The massive demand from AI and cloud computing is prompting aggressive growth in data centers in Indiana. Recently, Meta, owner of Facebook, broke ground for a data center in a more than $10 billion data center campus at the LEAP Innovation and Research District in Lebanon. The 1,500-acre data center campus will have 13 buildings, including 10 data center buildings, as well as facilities to support logistics and warehousing, network and administrative support functions. The new campus will support approximately 300 operational jobs once it’s finished, along with more than 4,000 construction jobs at its peak.
