Two more data center campuses are being proposed outside Chicago in Merrillville, Indiana.

NWI reports two multi-building data center campuses have been proposed in the Lake County town this month, with both gaining preliminary approval from Merrillville’s Data Center Advisory Committee.

Merrillville is located in northeast Indiana on the shore of Lake Michigan, close to the state border and a few miles east of Chicago.

Province Group targets Merrillville

Province Group plans to invest up to $500 million in developing the 1 million sq ft Merrillville Technology Park data center campus, near Colorado Street and Harms Road in Merrillville, close to the border of Hobart.

The company is looking to develop four 250,000 sq ft (23,226 sqm) buildings, each one to two stories tall, over the next five to seven years.

"This is going to be a powerhouse for economic development," Province Group vice president Tim Ramm said. "It would be low intensity compared to other uses. It doesn't impact schools, parks, police fire, or emergency services."

Province Group now has tentative purchase agreements for the land. It is commissioning NIPSCO to do a data center transmission study to determine how much power it can supply to the site. The company is aiming to offer up to 400MW of capacity.

Merrillville's Data Center Advisory Committee gave preliminary approval last week.

Province was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Newport Beach, California. It claims to have developed, renovated, acquired, or entitled more than 75 projects with a combined value of more than $850 million.

The company is planning a data center campus outside Richmond, Virginia. The campus, in Powhatan County, will consist of three data center buildings totaling 1.5 million sq ft (139,355 sqm) and up to 300MW at full build-out.

Wylie Capital eyes Merrillville

Real estate firm Wylie Capital is also applying to develop a data center campus in Merriville.

The company reportedly plans to invest $600 million in developing the Merrillville Commerce Center at Broadway, 93rd Avenue, and Georgia Street into a 1.2 million sq ft (111,484 sqm) data center site.

The development could see up to six buildings, each up to three stories tall, developed.

The Merrillville Data Advisory Center gave preliminary approval to the development earlier this month. The first phase would see two buildings developed.

Founded in 2017, Wylie Capital is a real estate investment and development company. The company says it has acquired $180 million of commercial property totaling one million sq ft to date, with a development pipeline of industrial and residential projects totaling more than four million sq ft across Illinois, Indiana, and North Carolina.

The company’s website notes it has previously sold an industrial site in Illinois to Microsoft for a planned data center development.

Data centers come to Northwest Indiana

Indiana is quickly becoming a popular market for building data centers, and a number of developers are eyeing the northwest area of the Hoosier State.

Karis Critical is seeking to develop a nine-building campus on a 180-acre site in Merriville.

Provident Realty recently proposed a seven-building campus in nearby Burns Harbor. Provident Realty also proposed an eight-building data center campus in Chesterton in May 2024, but saw the plans rejected.

Amazon, Microsoft, and Google have all announced data center builds in Indiana, in New Carlisle, Mishawaka, and Fort Wayne respectively. Amazon is also said to be developing in Portage.

Meta, US Signals, DataBank, Netrality, and Digital Crossroads all have a presence in Indiana.