A proposed data center in Martindale Brightwood is moving forward.
The Metropolitan Development Commission approved the $500-million, nearly 14 acre project after a 6-2 vote at its April 1 meeting. Board members asked questions during the roughly two-hour hearing, but did not explain their votes.
The approval came despite opposition from Martindale Brightwood residents for the last six months. The project is near homes, local businesses, a public library and one of the area’s only grocery stores. Community members have cited concerns about environmental pollution, rising utility costs and of giving tax breaks for a development that offers few long-term jobs.
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Los Angeles-based Metrobloks proposes to build the center near 25th Street and Sherman Drive, the site of the former Sherman Drive-In Theater, which closed in the 1980s. The company needs permission because the building would be nearly twice as tall, closer to the road and would have fewer parking spaces than recommended for the area.
The project is estimated to provide $10 million in annual property tax revenue for the city. Metrobloks has also pledged $2.5 million for affordable housing and infrastructure improvements in Martindale Brightwood. At the April 1 meeting, Ernest Popescu, the CEO of Metrobloks, said the money for community infrastructure could increase to $20 million depending on how much of a tax abatement the company receives. The abatement is in negotiations.
But many residents said the pledge of money for the community is not enough to gain their support.
“The $2.5 million that they’re investing is pennies in exchange for our health and well being,” said Cierra Johnson, president of the neighborhood group One Voice Martindale Brightwood.
Before the meeting, dozens of community members gathered outside the City-County Building. They chanted, “Who keeps us safe? We keep us safe.” Some carried signs that read, “Data centers are the new redlining” and “Protect Martindale Brightwood.”
Several community leaders and clergy members later spoke in opposition of the project.
Josh Riddick, an organizer with the Black Church Coalition, emphasized the need for zoning regulations for data centers. The city does not have a formal zoning designation for data centers. Riddick said the approval of the Metrobloks project would open a Pandora’s box for developments in the city.
“To create the conditions where a project of the scale and magnitude that can be present in front of a grocery store, library and residential zoning means a data center can go anywhere,” Riddick said. “These sort of developments must be thought through with more integrity, more clarity and more awareness of the people that are going to be impacted.”
The project will now head to the City-County Council for final approval. The council typically approves multiple projects from the commission at once, but councilors could choose to review the data center individually.
In an emailed statement to Mirror Indy, City-County Councilor Ron Gibson, the Democrat who represents Martindale Brightwood, said he does not intend to call the proposal down for an individual vote.
“The Commission’s role is to evaluate projects based on land use standards, and it’s important that every project is reviewed fairly and consistently,” Gibson’s statement said, in part. “This project met those standards, and I support the Commission’s decision to approve the rezoning for the MetroBloks project.”
Two weeks ago, the commission also approved Sabey Data Centers’ project to construct the city’s first hyperscale project, spanning roughly 18 football fields, in Decatur Township.
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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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