Phoenix Investors outlines plan to convert former AMCO plant into data center; residents raise water, noise and health concerns

Phoenix Investors told a Michigan City Common Council workshop on July 24 that it plans to redevelop the former AMCO/Federal Mobile building on Royal Road into a data-center campus and related electrical yards, while council members and residents pressed the developer for more detail on power demand, generator emissions, noise and water use.

"Phoenix Investors is based out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin," said Patrick Edering, director of acquisition and leasing for Phoenix Investors, introducing the firm's national strategy of buying and repositioning large, single-tenant industrial properties. John Graham, who identified himself as Phoenix Investors' head of construction, said the company has been investing upfront capital to make large vacant buildings marketable and called the Royal Road site a "prime opportunity" for adaptive reuse.

The proposal discussed at the workshop would keep the existing building footprint, add electrical yards and a mechanical yard, and include a new substation fed from an existing industrial substation across Royal Road. Phoenix Investors said it has raised the building's roof to a 28-foot clear height and plans perimeter landscaping and buffering, including roughly 150–175 mixed trees and about 140–160 shrubs.

Why it matters: the project would convert a long-vacant industrial property into taxable value and employment but touches multiple municipal concerns — where the site sits in or near residential neighborhoods and schools; the electricity and water the facility would require; and community impacts from noise and emergency generators. The workshop was informational; no council vote or formal incentive approval took place.

Financial and job estimates cited Phoenix Investors presented an overview of projected city benefits it characterized as totaling about $26.1 million in several forms. In the company's summary cited at the workshop, funds would include $1,000,000 to the local Economic Development Corporation, $100,000 to the Michigan City Sanitary District, an upfront economic-development impact (EDI) payment of about $5,500,000 and annual payments of $500,000 per year for a multiyear period cited in discussion. The company and city representatives said those payments are separate from real property tax receipts, which Phoenix Investors estimated at about $926,000 per year in years one through ten and rising to about $1.5 million per year thereafter.

Phoenix Investors estimated construction employment at roughly 500–800 jobs during buildout and about 30 permanent, higher-skilled operations and maintenance positions after the data center is operational.

Utilities, water and power Michigan City Department of Water Works staff told the workshop the utility has current treatment capacity of about 20,000,000 gallons per day, with a recent peak day of about 9,100,000 gallons and a two-year average near 6,600,000 gallons. The water official said available information indicates the project "is not going to put us in any kind of position" regarding supply and that the plant can be enhanced if needed.

On power, Phoenix Investors said the site benefits from proximity to an existing industrial substation across Royal Road and that the end user has worked with NIPSCO on an energy study to define needs. Katie Eaton of NIPSCO said the company has proposed a regulatory structure to the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission to protect existing customers from bearing the costs of large new loads and to allow large-load customers to be served without transferring costs to other ratepayers, saying, "we want to make sure that our current customer base does not bear the brunt of the costs that are associated with these large developments." Phoenix Investors declined to provide a specific kilowatt or megawatt demand number at the workshop, saying that figure is confidential end‑user information.

Noise, generators and environmental permits Phoenix Investors addressed community questions about noise, explaining the principal sound sources would be cooling equipment, electrical switching and emergency generators. A company representative said generators "are only going to be ran if there's a failure or an outage to the site" and are otherwise used only for monthly testing or maintenance (which the presenter said runs about 45–60 minutes per month). The firm said it has hired acoustical engineers and expects equipment and mitigation to meet sound-code limits, and it cited a target of roughly 60–65 decibels at the parcel line in modeling presented at the workshop.

On emissions and air permitting, company representatives said they will obtain any required state and federal permits and that generator emissions controls will meet Indiana Department of Environmental Management and EPA standards. The presentation said generators would be diesel and that any required air permits would be obtained through the normal regulatory process.

Public comment and concerns Dozens of residents, union leaders and local economic-development advocates spoke during the workshop's public-comment period. Kelly Lisinski, who said she lives about a half-mile from the site, told the council, "As a resident, I can tell you we don't want it," citing worries about water shortages, noise and health effects she said she has seen reported in other jurisdictions. Scott, a Michigan City resident who asked questions about zoning and proximity to housing, asked whether the project required any zoning or city approvals; Phoenix Investors stated the site is in an M-1 (industrial) zone and that data centers are an allowable use in that zone.

Union representatives at the workshop urged local hiring. A speaker identifying himself as representing Michigan City electrical trades described discussions with Phoenix Investors as "very genuine, very sincere" about including local union labor; Jim Clarida, business manager for IBEW Local 531, asked if the developer intends to use "nothing but local union labor" for construction and sought follow-up conversations.

City process and next steps Council President Tracy Toman opened the workshop and said the presentation and questions-and-answers would be posted to the city's website. Clarence Wells, director of the Economic Development Corporation of Michigan City, explained why developers commonly ask the city to sign nondisclosure agreements during site negotiations and said project identities are often disclosed publicly only once permits or incentive requests are filed.

Mayor and council comments at the meeting reiterated that no formal action had been taken; one council member emphasized that incentives and the city's share of benefits remain central to the council's review. The presentation will be placed on the city's website along with collected public questions; the council said any formal incentive or zoning requests would be subject to later public readings and votes.

What remains unanswered Attendees pressed repeatedly for exact electric demand figures and for clarity about whether the developer or the end user would place continuous perimeter noise monitors. Phoenix Investors said some technical data are confidential to the eventual end user and that it will provide additional answers through the city's question-collection process. NIPSCO and city staff suggested some electrical and permitting details would be resolved through utility studies and permitting processes.

The workshop was informational; no ordinance, incentive or contract related to the project was presented to or approved by the council at the July 24 session. The council and staff asked Phoenix Investors to provide written answers to the public-submitted question cards and to post the Q&A on the city website.