Meta proposes $800 million data center in Lebanon
LEBANON, Ind. (WISH) — The technology company that owns and operates Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp is considering an $800 million data center in Boone County, officials announced Monday night.
Meta’s proposal near Indianapolis would be the second in Indiana since January, when an $800 million data center was announced for the city of Jeffersonville, which sits across the Ohio River from Louisville, Kentucky.
In Boone County, the Mega Facebook campus — previously known as Project Domino, as the city government and others tried to keep the name of the developer secret — would be in what’s called the LEAP Research and and Innovation District. LEAP is an acronym for Limitless Exploration Advanced Pace.
The LEAP project has generated controversy over a proposal to pipe water from parts of the state northwest of Boone County for the development of what’s primarily farmland surrounding the city of Lebanon.
Jessica Schwarz, vice president of economic development at the Boone County Economic Development Corp., on Monday night told the Lebanon City Council that the data center — four buildings on one campus, known as Phase 1 — would employee 80 full-time workers making on average $36 per hours. She also noted that Meta would have enough space to expand on its acreage in the future.
Mayor Matt Gentry said Monday that the 1,400 acres for the Meta site would be on the north side of State Road 32 between county roads 200 and 450. That’s about a mile northeast of the Boone County Fairgrounds.
Gentry said Monday night that he first began working two years ago to get a Meta data center.
A tax abatement proposal for the data center received unanimous support Monday night in a voice vote of the Lebanon City Council. The council also approved the creation of an economic development area for the proposal, and gave its OK to the introduction of a proposal to support bonds to pay for the water supply to come from Citizens Water in Indianapolis to Lebanon Utilities, and for wastewater processing.
Jeff Jacob, an attorney, on Monday night told the council members that the Lebanon Utilities Board on Monday afternoon approved 4-1 an agreement with Citizens Water for the LEAP project. The Utility Board will be determine what future developments get water service, and already has “pre-allocated” to a massive project for pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly & Co. in the LEAP project, and, as of Monday night, the Meta proposal.
Jacob also said Facebook has “requested a phased water supply of 3 million gallons per day and wastewater of up to 1.5 million gallons per day, and that’s phased from 2027 to 2031,” giving a hint of when Meta might open a data center in Boone County.
Jacob noted that the Meta water request would fall in line with the agreement that the Utility Board approved Monday afternoon.
The Boone County Economic Development Corp. said in a news release issued Monday night that, “If finalized, the company’s potential commitment to Lebanon would go beyond development, providing an annual $1.5 million+ investment in non-restrictive community impact funds enriching quality of life and creating lasting opportunities for residents.”