Google confirms its involvement in proposed Franklin Township data center

(Adobe Stock)

Tech giant Google confirmed Tuesday that it is the entity behind a proposed $1 billion data center campus on the far southeast side of Indianapolis.

The project would occupy a 467.6-acre site which is generally bounded by South Post Road to the west, Davis Road to the east, Troy Avenue to the north and Interstate 74 and Vandergriff Road to the south.

Until now, Google had used a holding company, Deep Meadow Ventures LLC, to cloak its identity. The Indiana Economic Development Corp., which approved tax incentives for the project at a June meeting, referred to the development only as “Project Flo.”

Last month, WFYI reported that Google was the company behind the Franklin Township project, citing city documents about the project in which Google’s name was mentioned.

Now, Google has publicly revealed its involvement.

“In Indiana, we can confirm we are exploring a potential development in Franklin Township,” a Google spokesperson said in a written statement emailed to IBJ Tuesday afternoon. “These are complex projects and development of the site is subject to a variety of factors. We appreciate the collaboration with both local and state leadership as we evaluate the opportunity together.”

As has also been the case with other proposed data centers around the state, the Franklin Township project has drawn significant pushback from local residents. For this particular project, the residents call their effort Protect Franklin Township.

On Wednesday, the city’s Metropolitan Development Commission is set to consider whether to rezone the Franklin Township property as C-S, or a special commercial district, which would allow a data center to be developed at that site. The land is largely undeveloped and currently used for agriculture, but five of the 13 parcels have a mix of single-family dwellings and agriculture accessory structures.

Also on Wednesday, the commission will consider granting a tax abatement for the first building planned for the complex, which has an estimated cost of $314 million. The abatement would halve its estimated property tax bill of $5.4 million over 10 years to $2.7 million—or a 50% reduction.

However, the company has already committed to paying no less than $1 million per year in property taxes, starting with the first date of occupancy of the first data center building. Therefore, the remaining $2.7 million owed in taxes for the first building would be covered.

IBJ reporter Mickey Shuey contributed to this story.