Despite approval by city officials, Martindale Brightwood residents are still pushing back against a data center in the neighborhood.
Several Martindale Brightwood residents and the Hoosier Environmental Council filed a petition May 1 for judicial review of the Metropolitan Development Commission’s April 1 approval of zoning variances for a data center project. They want to stop the project from moving forward.
Last year, Los Angeles-based developer Metrobloks filed rezoning requests for a nearly 14-acre vacant lot near 25th Street and Sherman Drive. The site is near homes, a library and one of the area’s only grocery stores.
The requests were met with months of opposition from neighborhood residents. Many cited concerns about environmental pollution, rising utility costs and about giving tax breaks for a development that offers few long-term jobs.
Upcoming meeting
One Voice neighborhood meeting
Learn more about the complaint and next steps.
🗓️ 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 12
📍 Polk Stables, 1533 Lewis St
The civil complaint was filed in Marion Superior Court 6. It claims, in part, the MDC failed to properly apply variance standards and that Metrobloks did not conduct adequate environmental impact, water use, utility use and traffic studies.
“We feel as though we have been sidelined and that this has not been reviewed property and that it may have been predetermined,” Cierra Johnson, president of neighborhood group One Voice Martindale Brightwood, told Mirror Indy.
Representatives from the Department of Metropolitan Development did not immediately respond to Mirror Indy’s request for comment. The lawyer representing Metrobloks was aware of the petition but did not comment further. The lawyer for the petitioners could not immediately be reached.
Johnson is also a member of Protect Martindale Brightwood, a group created last year in opposition of the data center. The group has stated they believe Mayor Joe Hogsett is in favor of the development.
Hogsett’s office has told Mirror Indy the administration does not get involved, or comment, on zoning matters. But Indianapolis Economic Development Inc., a nonprofit organization established by the Hogsett administration to spur job creation and retention, sent a letter to members of the city’s Metropolitan Development Commission asking them to approve the project.
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“Our ideal solution is that it does not get built at all and that we are allowed to develop something on that site that is in alignment with our quality of life plan,” Johnson said. “But if we cannot get that, then we want to have real investment in the neighborhood that is enforceable.”
Metrobloks has pledged $2.5 million for affordable housing and infrastructure improvements in Martindale Brightwood. At the April 1 MDC 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.
How to learn more
Johnson said residents can learn more about the complaint and next steps at a One Voice neighborhood meeting at 6 p.m. May 12 at Polk Stables, 1533 Lewis 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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