Data center company Metrobloks could develop a facility in Indiana.

On September 23, the company and citizens from the Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood of Indianapolis attended a closed-door meeting regarding a proposal for a data center at the former Sherman Drive-In theater. The property, located at 2505 N Sherman Dr, has been vacant since 1983 and covers 14 acres.

Martindate-Brightwood is located in the northeastern part of Indianapolis, the state’s capital.

CEO Earnest Popescu told News 8 that “the intent of meeting with the community was to come sort of hat in hand, and be transparent and open about what we want to do. I think there are tremendous benefits.”

Doubts were expressed regarding the facility’s benefit to the community, with some residents stating that they would rather see the property empty.

Metrobloks has not yet filed any official documents with the city of Indianapolis, but Popescu told IndyStar that the company would invest around $500 million across two phases, with the first coming in at around $150m. At completion, the facility would offer 75MW.

It is unclear how Metrobloks will finance these investments, given that it only raised $5.2m in last year's seed round. The company previously funded the acquisition of a 4.05 acre land parcel in Miami through its own investment vehicle, MB Sweetwater Partners LLC.

Indiana has received a great deal of attention from various data center operators. Hyperscalers Google, Amazon, and Meta all have a presence in the region, and demand has led the state to project significant growth in peak load capacity.

Opposition to data centers has grown in tandem with the industry’s footprint in the state. Just last week, Google withdrew a rezoning proposal for a 468-project in Franklin Township, which is located outside Indianapolis.

Project Maize, a $832m development in Michigan City that received approvals earlier in September, has been met with opposition, with residents expressing concern about the data center’s potential environmental impact, the effect of the facilities on the character of the neighbourhood, and the manner and speed with which the resolutions had been considered.

Metrobloks is a data center developer and operator focused on AI-ready facilities at the metro Edge. The company's CEO, Popescu, was previously a VP of data center development at Iron Mountain and has also held roles at Meta and Amazon.