LaPorte City Council approves second Microsoft data center

Microsoft will be building a second data center in the City of LaPorte. The LaPorte City Council voted unanimously Monday night to allow a second Microsoft data center in the city limits. It will be located south off Boyd Boulevard with the main property running along highway 35 south to County Road 250. Construction is already underway with Microsoft's, its first LaPorte data center off Boyd Boulevard, just south of East Lincoln Way. City leaders say more economic growth will come from the second center. "Well, I think it's just something that our community is rallying around. Tech, yeah, meaning that we are very open to progress and report and changing the future lives of our residents" says LaPorte Mayor Tom Dermody. That growth is a major emphasis from city leaders as they continue to look forward to future development in the area. If the city council approves the annexation for nearly nine parcels of land. The second data center campus would be located south of Boyd Boulevard with the main property running along highway 35 south to County Road 250. Bert Cook, LaPorte's Economic Advancement Partnership Executive Director also says that spot in Pleasant Township has been in development discussions for quite some time. "We've met with numerous neighbors and people that are interested in this. Some of those conversations have been very productive. We've worked through issues that they might see. Microsoft has been gracious in adjusting their plan to maybe minimize impacts in certain areas" says Cook. A public hearing held in April allowed residents to share their thoughts on the data center campus. Many local union workers expressed excitement about the project and the potential jobs it would bring. "In the short term for us, it's about the construction jobs. It's about people having good paint for good benefits. It's about our journey. It's about our new apprentices" says Local 150 Representative David Fagan. Other residents said they’re just hoping for transparency as it moves forward. "I think one of the reasons we chose Microsoft is because they're so respectful of our water resources. So many people, when they've heard that, I think they've changed their opinion on the project as a whole" says Cook. The city also said in April they would look into any concerns the public may have with the project. WSBT is still trying to learn what the timeline for the site may look like if the council votes in favor of the campus. https://wsbt.com/news/local/laporte-city-council-vote-on-second-microsoft-data-center-yes-no-boyd-boulevard-transparency-economic-development-campus-union-workers-project-jobs _________________ Stay up to date by following our social media: WSBT 22 on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WSBTNews WSBT 22 on X: https://twitter.com/WSBT WSBT 22 on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wsbt/ For more information, visit https://wsbt.com/ Have a news tip? Send it directly to our newsroom: wsbtnews@wsbt.com WSBT is an IN based station and a CBS Television affiliate owned and operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group. Sinclair, Inc. is one of the largest and most diversified television broadcasting companies in the country today. Sinclair owns and operates, programs or provides sales services to 163 television stations in 77 markets, after pending transactions. Sinclair's television group reaches approximately 38.7% of US television households and includes FOX, ABC, MyTV, CW, CBS, NBC, Univision and Azteca affiliates.