A developer aiming to build a data center campus near Irvington has scaled back its plans one week before city officials will vote on the project.
Georgia-based developer DC Blox wants to build a $2 billion data center campus near South Kitley Avenue and the Pennsy Trail. The project would be built on a brownfield located on the Thunderbird Commerce Center property, an industrial park that was once home to a Ford plant.
Original plans for the data center campus featured three buildings, 56 diesel generators and about 80 megawatts of power demand. The new plans have reduced the campus to two buildings instead of three, have cut 25 diesel generators and lessened the power demand by 28 megawatts.
In a news release, a DC Blox spokesperson said the layout of the campus has also shifted closer to the center of the Thunderbird Commerce Center. The company said this will expand the surrounding green space and create a larger buffer between the campus, the Pennsy Trail and the adjacent Irvington Community Elementary School. The company estimates the project will create about 600 temporary jobs during construction and 17 permanent jobs once the campus is completed.
The project has met criticism from many eastsiders. Residents are concerned about noise, pollution and an increase in utility bills. At a June 11 meeting for the Metropolitan Development Commission’s hearing examiner, several residents expressed that they felt they didn’t have a voice in the decision-making process. Because DC Blox is seeking a variance of use and not a rezoning of the property, the full MDC has final approval of the project — not city councilors.
The full MDC could vote on the project as soon as its meeting at 1 p.m. July 15 at the City-County Building, 200 E. Washington St.
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Mirror Indy reporter Darian Benson covers east Indianapolis. Contact her at 317-397-7262 or darian.benson@mirrorindy.org. Follow her on X @HelloImDarian or on Bluesky @darianbenson.bsky.social.
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