As Microsoft plans this month to break ground on a data center in Granger, a recent study of data centers’ effects on nearby home values found mixed results.
The study by Denver-based Integra Realty Resources looked at estimated Zillow values from 2021 through this year, for 20 homes within a mile and a half of four Indiana data centers: Microsoft’s center in LaPorte, Amazon’s massive complex near New Carlisle, Google’s facility in Fort Wayne, and META’s center in Jeffersonville. Integra presented their analysis in support of a zoning variance that a developer recently won for the first large-scale Indianapolis data center.
On one hand, according to reporting by Mirror Indy, the analysis found that property values increased near all four data centers. But in three of the four cases, values within a mile and a half of the centers increased less than across the rest of the county. In LaPorte, for example, nearby home values rose 42% while they jumped 48% countywide.
The exception was the Amazon data center, where nearby property values rose 49%, compared to 32% countywide. The study did not offer reasons for that difference.
