Brightwood Data Center, Indianapolis, Indiana

Metrobloks, a Los Angeles data center developer, won final approval on May 4, 2026 from the Indianapolis City-County Council to build two data halls on a nearly 14-acre lot on Sherman Drive in the Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood of Indianapolis, in Marion County, Indiana. The Metropolitan Development Commission had approved the rezoning on April 1, 2026 after months of objections over noise, power, water, jobs and home values. The $500 million campus sits on a vacant lot that was once a drive-in theater.

Several Martindale Brightwood residents and the Hoosier Environmental Council filed a petition on May 1, 2026 in Marion Superior Court for judicial review of the commission's decision, arguing it "failed to properly apply variance standards" and that Metrobloks had not done adequate studies of environmental impact, water use, utility use and traffic. "We feel as though we have been sidelined and that this has not been reviewed properly and that it may have been predetermined," said Cierra Johnson, president of neighborhood group One Voice Martindale Brightwood. No ruling on the petition has been published since it was filed.

Metrobloks has pledged $2.5 million for affordable housing and infrastructure, rising toward $20 million depending on a tax abatement the company receives. It says the data halls will draw power from AES Indiana under contract rather than the residential grid, and will cool on a closed loop using about 19,000 gallons for the first building and about 47,500 for the second, which it argues is less water than the warehouses already allowed on the site under its industrial zoning.