Michigan City employees discuss data center plans, company unnamed

MICHIGAN CITY, Ind.-- A new data center will likely be coming to Michigan City.

The city council approved tax incentives for the project Tuesday night.

Crews are literally raising the roof on the building that used to be home to the former Anco windshield wiper company to make space for the end-user who will use the building as a data center. Michigan City's Director of Redevelopment, Skyler York, couldn't disclose the company's name, but told ABC57's Annie Kate it's as big a name as Amazon or Microsoft.

"Most data centers, if you think about them, are on thousands of square feet, thousands of acres, hundreds of acres, etc. This one's on 65 acres," York said. "It's a 400,000 square foot building. They're going to double the size of it, so it'll be an 800,000 square foot building."

Phoenix Investors is the company that owns the property and is leading the current construction for the mystery end-user.  

"We have an active construction site at 402 Royal Road, regardless of who the end-user is," said Wendy Vachet, Michigan City Public Works Director.

But Tuesday night, the Michigan City Council approved tax incentives for the data center.

"Long-time manufacturing industrial site here in the city for well over 60 or 70 years," Vachet said.

Both York and Vachet said they think it's a good reuse of the old brownfield site.

"It checked a lot of boxes. When we were marketing to other companies, it checked all the boxes, except for the 100 acres," York said. "Gas, rail, it's right next to all these things. Substation, it's right on the main power line. It comes out directly from NIPSCO. It checks so many boxes."

"We have the existing infrastructure in place," Vachet said. "We have the water, we have the sewer."

However, this is an unpopular project among many Michigan City residents.

Many spoke out against the plans at a rally before Tuesday's council meeting, and the majority of public comment in the meeting was in opposition to the data center.

An inflatable rat was blown up and placed outside the building site by Local 150, angry over Phoenix Investors' lack of union labor on this construction.

But York clarifies the current work is not subsidized by the city.

"This is all private development right now," York said.

He explained the current construction was happening no matter what. The tax abatements approved Tuesday night are for the next construction phase, when the data center equipment is installed, and beyond.

"The return is not just tax money, it's also opening up opportunity for new development, new subdivisions, both residential, commercial, and industrial," York said.

Councilmembers who voted in favor of the tax abatements cited the budget shortfall Michigan City stands to see from Senate Enrolled Act One, Governor Mike Braun's property tax reform law.

"We're going to be left with a hole in our budget, so this could provide a way to fill that hole," York said.

He said this project promises both tax revenue and growth.

"Development creates development, that's just what it does," York said.

The construction timeframe is roughly two years, according to York, but it should be just months for the public to learn what company is moving in.