Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe Now
City officials will consider on Wednesday whether to rezone 467.6 acres on the far-southeast side of Indianapolis for a planned $1 billion data center campus.
The complex along South Post Road would be the largest data center in Indianapolis if completed, built by a still-undisclosed technology company operating through holding company Deep Meadow Ventures LLC.
IBJ first reported on plans for the data center in March, amid significant pushback from residents in Franklin Township.
City documents describe Deep Meadow Ventures as a “Fortune 100 technology company headquartered in the U.S.” but offers little other identifying information. In July, WFYI reported that it had obtained documents indicating that tech giant Google was behind the data center project, and on Tuesday afternoon Google representatives confirmed their involvement in a statement sent to IBJ.
The property 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.
On Wednesday, the city’s Metropolitan Development Commission will weigh the entity’s request to rezone the property as C-S, or a special commercial district. The land largely is undeveloped and currently used for agriculture, but five of the 13 parcels have a mix of single-family dwellings and agriculture accessory structures.
Data centers—essentially buildings filled with computer systems and networking equipment that run round the clock—are heavy power users. They can also be heavy water users if they use water-cooled systems rather than air-cooled systems to keep their equipment from overheating.
Allowed uses in C-S include light manufacturing, research and development, utilities and some office developments. Permitted accessory uses include utility structures, such as power substations, water towers and overhead and underground powerlines.
The commission also on Wednesday 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 estimate property tax bill of $5.4 million over 10 years to $2.7 million—or a 50% reduction.
However, the company already has 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.
The $1 million threshold could be exceeded with additional buildings, according to a city planning staff report. Additional buildings also would receive a 50% tax break over 10 years.
The nine-figure investment in the first building is expected to increase the tax base by about $21 million in assessed value, according to the city.
The data center project has been called Project Flo by the Indiana Economic Development Corp., which in June approved a data-center specific tax credit valued at about $42 million over 35 years. The credit, which was also approved for three other data center projects in the state, could be extended by up to 15 additional years if the company meets its minimum planned investment of about $1 billion.
The project’s first building is expected to create 50 jobs, all with compensation of $100,000 or more, including wages and benefits, according to city documents. It plans to add three jobs in the first year of operation, 10 in the second, 11 in the third, nine in the fourth and 17 in the fifth.
Staff with the Indianapolis Department of Metropolitan Development is recommending approval of the abatement request.
Deep Meadow Ventures also is requesting variances of development standards to allow for a building height of 75 feet—about double the height typically permitted—and another regarding front yard setbacks.
DMD staff also also is recommending approval of the rezoning and variance requests, but with the following conditions:
- Documentation from AES and Citizens Energy Group confirming that the plans and proposed development have been reviewed to determine that they are able to provide the necessary services or that the petitioner will assist to provide improvements to meet the capacity.
- A traffic impact study submitted for review and comment by the Department of Public Works.
- Deep Meadow will work with the division of Trails and Greenways and Department of Public Works to outline perimeter connectivity for a trail system.
- Submittal of a final statement that addresses the changes to the proposed height limitation areas and setbacks.
Indianapolis attorney Joe Calderon, who is representing the proposed data center campus’ unnamed operator, did not return a voicemail requesting comment.
IBJ reporter Susan Orr contributed to this story.
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.
This is not good for this location.
It’s along an interstate and across from an auto parking lot hell, auction company. Would you rather it be downtown? This is mostly fields light industrial and housing north of the interstate designated commercial zone..
This is something that no one wants in their backyard, however change will happen especially when there is an opportunity to grow the Indianappolis tax base, after the giveaways have expired. The fact the Google is the tech company really has no relevance, really the tech company period has no relevence. What is relevant is the placement of the facility, how they will affect the people who are already there. It is not like other issues where people move in then complain about a business nearby which has been inplace for decades, this is a new building moving into an existing neighborhood. Good luck fighting city hall and the lure of the dollars.
By the time the tax breaks expire, the declared value of this project will have plummeted. This is a no-revenue, few jobs, few benefits project.
The company behind this is not just important, it’s critical. Tech companies come and go. We don’t want to be left with a half finished shell of a building. Google, or whomever, should make their involvement public, and post a commitment of some kind to the completion of the project. That is, assuming the MDC lacks the integrity to kill this deal, and allows it to go ahead. Because, after all, it’s just Southsiders being impacted.
This is outrageous! There are homes along all the streets boarding the data center. The residences in the area will have no chance to get value from their home if they should decide to move. 75′ is too tall for the area that currently offers an expansive view. What about the toxic EMF’s emitting from the data center? How long will it take before health issues plague the residents? Doesn’t anyone making these decisions care about the citizens in the area? The community has been fighting this from the beginning. Changing the zoning is the first step toward building this beast of a center. Completely opposed to this but who really cares! Why give them tax breaks when they offer very little in return. Low employment, low tax revenue to serve the state, reduced resources for those who live in the area, destruction to the already terrible conditions of the roads. What do they offer? Google or whomever it is can move to an area surrounded by highways. The noise will be absorbed and hopefully the EMFs will not harm anyone.
The recommended DMD staff commitments sound very weak and to the developers advantage.
If approved, the developer should also pay for and build the trail system.
The developer should also pay and rebuild the surrounding roads and streets with improved capacities.
The developer should also pay for and install massive mounding and plant materials to basically make the development disappear behind a very dense woods.
And much more!
Past the initial build, there is almost no traffic in and out of a data center.