While some may look at the site as a toxic wasteland more suited for a zombie movie, others envisioned a spot for a multimillion dollar, state-of-the art facility that would improve the quality of place in the city and the state as a whole.
It was the latter vision that brought Gov. Eric Holcomb, Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. and a host of other officials Wednesday to the Lake Michigan frontage just steps from the Chicago border.
Those officials put shovels in the ground for what is expected to become the Digital Crossroads of America Data Center in Northwest Indiana.
Indiana NAP, a new venture advancing the high-power, high-efficiency data center project, will develop the renewable energy campus on the site of the former State Line Generating Facility, which closed in 2012.
“It is a huge win for the region, and when it is a huge win for the region it is a huge win for the state,” Holcomb said.
The data center, just north of the Hammond Marina, is designed to serve a growing demand for businesses and content distribution providers to lease data center space. The project also includes plans for a 10,000-square-foot tech incubator, a greenhouse to serve Purdue University Northwest that will use waste heat from the servers and equipment, as well as enhanced public spaces with access to the lakefront property. Indiana NAP will initially invest approximately $40 million to construct a 105,000-square-foot facility on approximately 12 acres of the 77-acre site during the first phase to include a data center and shared-space tech incubator, officials said. The project has the potential to grow into a $200 million investment across three buildings and 400,000 square feet of state-of-the-art space in Hammond, officials said.
The city is getting help for the project in the form of a more than $9 million tax credit from the Indiana Economic Development Corp. through a program aimed at redeveloping old industrial sites.
New York-based data center mogul Peter Feldman, co-leading the effort with Gary native and Indianapolis-based attorney Thomas Dakich, said they plan to pour the foundation for the facility in the winter and have a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its opening before July.
Holcomb said they love the massive monetary investment that is occurring there.
“This is a cool place to be,” he said. “I’m thrilled and proud of everyone that had a hand in this.”
McDermott said when State Line Generating went out of business it was a $100 million hit to the Hammond tax rolls.
McDermott said the location is perfect for the data center, which is near a newly opened bike trail. A park is planned that will surround the complex. McDermott said he is also planning on a large landmark for the site, which sits at the foot of the Chicago Skyway.
Rob Earnshaw is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.