A developer is proposing a large data center campus in Chesterton, Indiana.
First reported by the Chesterton Tribune, Provident Realty Advisors is seeking to buy the former Brassie Golf Club property off Pearson Road and develop a data center campus on the site.
Provident aims to acquire the 200-acre property from PMM Chesterton LLC and develop an eight-building campus, each with a 150,000 sq ft (13,935 sqm) footprint, as well as an on-site substation from local utility NIPSCO.
The company aims to invest $1.3 billion in the project, and could break ground in Q1 2026.
Chesterton is a town in Porter County, in northwest Indiana, close to Lake Michigan and west of Chicago.
At a recent town meeting, Provident’s representative, George Gonzalez, said: “I know this is a big deal. A huge big deal for the town. I grew up in a small town in Southwest Louisiana, so I get it. So one way we love to operate is just be as transparent as possible, just be able to talk through the issues transparently.”
No confirmed end-user was named, but the site is being targeted at the major cloud firms.
“The end users would be people like Google, like Microsoft, Amazon,” Gonzalez said. “It’s in that range.”
Opened in 1998, the 18-hole Brassie Golf Club, at 1110 Pearson Road, closed in 2021. The site was set to become a residential community, but developer Lennar Homes backed out of the project last year after it struggled to gain support from town officials.
PMM Chesterton LLC in Crown Point, Ind., has owned the golf course since 2013, buying the property for $1.5 million. It was listed in 2021 for a reported $2.75 million.
The Brassie property is comprised of approximately 200 acres, 129 of them in the town of Chesterton proper, with the other 71 in unincorporated Liberty Township. At Provident’s request, the Town Council has begun the process of annexing those 71 acres.
During the meeting, town planner Planner Dane Lafata – who also sits on the Town Council – said: “I think that this is the best project we’ve been presented for that piece of land.”
Town Councillor Erin Collins posted on Facebook: “I believe this will be amazing for our town. The tax revenue brought in will allow us to do more of the projects that everyone wants and that benefit all of Chesterton. The developer has been incredibly transparent and has openly stated he will work with the town to make sure everyone (as many as possible) is happy with this development.”
Provident recently sold a warehouse site in Dallas, Texas, to Powerhouse.
Amazon is planning a campus close to Chesterton in the neighboring town of Portage. Amazon is also developing another campus some 50 miles west of Chesterton in New Carlisle.
