A Boston-based telecommunications company plans to build a small data center next to one of its existing broadcast towers on the north side of Indianapolis.
ATC Watertown LLC, a holding company for American Tower Co., has submitted plans to the city that outline a 20,000-square-foot building at 7701 Walnut Drive. While the specific uses of the data center have not been disclosed, the company regularly works with mobile network companies like AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile; broadcasters; and other wireless technology users.
The single-story data center, which would use about 4 megawatts of power, would not be regularly staffed. It would occupy about seven acres of American Tower’s 53-acre site at 7701 Walnut Drive, which is southwest of the intersection of West 79th Street and Township Line Road. The project would be across Township Line Road from Forest Ridge Apartment Homes.
The largely wooded Walnut Drive site already has a 1,000-foot broadcast tower and a two-story, 4,400-square-foot support building, both of which would remain in place according to filings with the Indianapolis Department of Metropolitan Development.
American Tower is asking the city to rezone the acreage for the data center to C-S, which allows for special commercial development. It is also seeking a variance of development standards to allow for deeper setbacks of the planned structure from the site’s property lines.
The company did not immediately respond to an emailed request from IBJ for comment sent Monday evening, which included questions about its anticipated investment, the proposed data center’s uses and a timeline for the development.
Most of the undeveloped portions of American Tower’s property are covered with vegetation that the company said acts as a visual barrier for the existing structures. While the data center would be located near the northeast corner of American Tower’s property, it would be set back by more than 140 feet from Township Line Road and 235 feet from 79th Street, allowing it to be mostly obscured by trees.
While the case was expected to be considered during this Thursday’s Metropolitan Development Commission hearing examiner meeting, city staff is requesting a continuance to the Nov. 20 meeting so affected property owners and other members of the public can have required notice of the hearing.
The project is one of several data centers to be considered for Indianapolis and central Indiana over the past several months. Earlier this year, Google sought to rezone land in Franklin Township for a $1.5 billion project consisting of 400 acres, but later withdrew the proposal after neighborhood pushback and signaling from city-county councilors that its rezone request would be denied.
Los Angeles-based Metrobloks is seeking approval for a 14-acre, $500 million data center project in the Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood that would include two large buildings, a power substation and a pocket park. That project has also been met with resistance by residents, many of whom have expressed concerns about the project’s power and water consumption.
The Martindale-Brightwood center would require an estimated 75 megawatts of power. The Walnut Drive project calls for 4 megawatts.
In its filings, American Tower said its data center would not interfere with AES Indiana’s existing power grid capacity, with no additional electrical infrastructure, such as a substation, required. ATC also intends for the facility’s water system to be minimally intrusive, using what’s known as a closed-loop cooling system, allowing it to recycle its own supply rather than draw from the local water system.
The site will also have a stormwater detention pond and an anti-climb security fence, according to filings. The property will be monitored remotely.
American Tower said the project could affect the Indiana bat, which is considered an endangered species. It plans to clear some trees from the site before March 31, which would fall within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s regulations.