Seattle developer Ernest Popescu traveled to Indianapolis this week to debunk what he called “myths and legends” about data centers as he pitched a 14-acre development to Martindale-Brightwood residents.
Popescu, the CEO of Metrobloks, a Los Angeles startup, faced a standing-room-only crowd of about 60 people at the Frederick Douglass Family Center on Sept. 23, hoping to persuade neighbors to embrace a small-scale data center in their neighborhood.
Popescu left with a bucket of notes from neighbors asking for more transparency and additional information about how a small-scale data center might directly benefit, not harm, the residents of the Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood. Metrobloks is eying a former drive-in theater for a $500-million urban data center that would employ up to 45 high-skilled workers.
The company is under contract to buy the 14-acre former theater just north of the intersection at 25th Street and N. Sherman Drive if they can gain approval to build a small-scale data center. The development sounds tiny compared to the massive hyperscale data centers proposed recently around the state, but that did not assuage residents’ concern.
The former Sherman Drive-In demolished in 1983 is currently overrun with weeds and bordered by a chain link fence. For some 40 years, the land has sat unused, generating little tax revenue and posing as an eyesore. The city of Indianapolis designates the land for industrial use.
Metrobloks is proposing building a small-scale data center in two phases. The first phase would include a $150-million investment built in 18 months; a second installment would be roughly twice the cost of the first. Once built out, the data center would be a 75 MW facility. AES told Metrobloks they had the capacity for the project, Popescu said.
No official documents have been filed to the city, the project’s land use attorney Tyler Ochs said. Metrobloks hopes to earn the community’s support before public hearings are held.
Several people took notes during the hour-and-a-half information session, pausing at times to study hard copies of digital mockups of the proposed data center. Nearly all of those present came with questions and worries — worries that Popescu’s answers did little to calm.
Neighbors worry a data center would create high-skilled jobs out of reach for residents in the predominantly Black area, where only about 11% of residents earn a degree beyond high school, according to the 2023 census. Most of the jobs would go to engineers and security workers, Popescu said.
Several residents of the neighborhood would rather the lot continue to sit empty than be replaced by a half-billion-dollar data center, which they say will harm their quality of life and sense of community pride.
Vernon Compton, 70, studied a Google Maps satellite view of the site. One chief concern is that the site could be contaminated, meaning it could be unsafe to develop. Metrobloks addressed possible contamination at the site, noting an environmental study was underway and there was no indication so far of any environmental risks.
Compton said he thought the meeting was a solid first step, but there’s more legwork to do.
“I think we need another meeting with just us to discuss the problems we see,” said Compton, also president of the Brightwood Concerned Citizens.
Data center knowledge abundant in local meetings
Meetings like these are increasingly common as data center developers face hostile neighbors, although Indiana government leaders welcome them with open arms and hefty tax incentives.
As more data centers are proposed, developers are encountering populations with a wealth of knowledge about data centers from online searches, media coverage and community groups organized around the state. On Sept. 22, Google withdrew a rezoning request to build a hyperscale data center on 470 acres in Franklin Township after it looked like councilors could vote down the proposal.
Though the councilor representing the Franklin Township data center was a staunch opponent, Metrobloks has a friendly ally in Martindale-Brightwood.
Councilor Ron Gibson says he has become increasingly aware of blighted and rotting areas in his district northeast of downtown that includes Martindale-Brightwood, Mapleton-Fall Creek and Forest Manor. So when Metrobloks representatives approached him with the urban tech development, he heard them out, and more importantly, offered a key piece of advice: They should work to get the community on board.
“I was initially supportive, but I said ‘You gotta get their buy-in.’ And that led to the community meeting,” Gibson said.
Why Metrobloks likes Martindale-Brightwood site
Metrobloks describes itself as a creator of “future-proof and sustainable data centers” in dense metro areas. On its website, Metrobloks says Indianapolis is “emerging as a cost-effective Midwest data center hub, driven by industry-leading tax incentives and competitive power pricing.”
Many of the company’s projects — in places such as Miami, Phoenix, Detroit and Kansas City — target brownfields, urban sites that are vacant and decaying, company leaders said.
“We want to bring something beautiful to the community that will hopefully continue to attract investment,” Popescu said. “I think it is a great opportunity.”
Gibson, for his part, is trying to bridge the gap between Metrobloks and his constituents, hoping the two can eventually see eye to eye on the development. After the Sept. 23 meeting, he said he thinks the developer still has questions to answer.
As the only Indianapolis councilor who has openly supported companies who want to build data centers within the city limits, Gibson said he doesn’t take for granted the money companies like Google and Metrobloks want to spend in the city. This, he said, is especially true for his district where few projects generate the investment of a data center, which could increase tax revenue and property taxes generated on the site.
“I don’t know how we pass it up,” Gibson said. “I understand all of the utility concerns, and those should be vetted, but this is a real opportunity, and I just want my constituents to keep an open mind and see how we can possibly work with this developer and see this project through.”
Alysa Guffey writes business, health and development stories for IndyStar. Have a story tip? Contact her at amguffey@gannett.com or on X: @AlysaGuffeyNews.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Developer pitches data center in Martindale-Brightwood. Neighbors prefer an empty lot
Reporting by Alysa Guffey, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
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