"Our citizens have spoken decisively that they believe this is a project that is not in the best interests of the city," the mayor said in a written statement issued Tuesday afternoon. "I will, of course, honor that decision. I have spoken with the potential developer, Agincourt, and they have agreed to withdraw from pursuing the project, and also to release their option on the land."
The tense and occasionally chaotic scene Monday transpired after word spread via social media that the city had entered into an option agreement with a prospective data center developer in January. The agreement, which opened the possibility for a corporate entity called Agincourt Investments, LLC to buy 180 acres of city-owned land near the St. Mary Medical Center off of Indiana 49 for just over $9 million, was the first in a series of steps towards bringing the new facility to Valparaiso.
That option agreement has resulted from a Dec. 12 request for proposals issued by Valparaiso Redevelopment Commission that sought a private sector use for 238 acres of land that the commission originally purchased in 2022. The administration of then-mayor Matt Murphy planned to use the land for a new $30 million sports and recreation complex. In August 2023, however, Murphy announced that plans for the project would be put on hold after contractor bids came back much higher than expected.
On Jan. 9, after receiving one proposal for part of the parcel from Agincourt, the RDC's five voting members opted unanimously to approve the option agreement, which laid out a 180-day due diligence period — extendable by up to 120 days more — by which the company had to decide whether to exercise the purchase option.
In order to build a data center, or anything else, on the property, the company would have needed to present a proposal to the Valparaiso Plan Commission and receive final approval of a rezone from the Valparaiso City Council. The land is currently zoned for use as open space, and Agincourt was not expected to complete the land purchase if a rezone was not granted.
A preliminary map submitted to the city by Todd Leeth, a Valparaiso-based attorney representing Agincourt, shows a four-building complex on the site. Further project details, like the height of the buildings as well as any fences, parking and landscaping included in the project, had not yet been provided.
Many in Monday's standing-room-only crowd, which spilled out of the council chambers and into the hallway, wore stickers bearing the words "NO DATA CENTER." The scene mirrored similar shows of public opposition to data center proposals in Chesterton and Burns Harbor. Both of those came from Texas-based Provident Realty Advisors. The former was withdrawn by the company and the latter has stalled after rezone approval was tabled by the town's Plan Commission. Last month in Hobart, the City Council sided with developers over concerned neighbors and paved the way for a new data center with a rezone.
Addressing the crowd on Monday evening, Costas reiterated a point that his administration made in a March 6 statement on the situation: that in the absence of a concrete proposal from Agincourt, it was too soon to evaluate whether the company's ambitions would benefit the city.
"If it's a good project it will pass scrutiny," the mayor said, "and if it's not, it will not be pursued."
During a public comment period that lasted over 90 minutes, most of the remonstrators made it clear that they were not interested in waiting for more specifics before making up their minds. A few speakers voiced some ambivalence about the idea of a data center, but none backed it.
"If this project goes through — and I hope it does not — we will have sold a part of ourselves that we can never get back," Valparaiso resident Jerry Scott told the council. "We're talking about an environmental eyesore that will use huge amounts of water, huge amounts of fossil fuels and just employing a very few amount of people."
Environmental concerns, along with complaints about possible noise and negative impacts to surrounding property values, emerged as common themes in the remonstrators' remarks.
Several speakers complained about the city's decision to axe plans for a new sports facility. Costas relayed the rationale behind the previous Mayor's decision to step back from the project, adding that his own administration has plans to instead upgrade existing park infrastructure. In his January State of the City address, Costas announced that Valparaiso would be spending $10 million on "aggressive upgrades" to 10 of the city's parks starting this spring.
"And frankly, I'm not a fan of a regional sports park," Costas said. "It brings lots of noise, lots of lights and lots of cars."
The remark was met with jeers and laughter from the crowd.
Joanne Manno, who lives in the Executive Park subdivision across the interstate from the prospective data center site, lamented that the facility "will literally be in our front yard."
"This is close and it's very scary," she told the council.
In his Tuesday statement, Costas said that "while the city administration would not have further pursued this project without community and City Council support, it is clear now that the option of a data center is not something our residents favor."
"I regret the angst and frustration it has caused some of our citizens," he wrote.
Leeth did not return a request for comment by press time on Tuesday.
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