Yorkville plans public hearings on 3 large planned data center campuses

The city of Yorkville this month took a large step towards breaking ground on a 228-acre data center campus with Texas-based developer CyrusOne.

The plans for the campus, as approved by the city council, is to include nine data center buildings, an electrical substation, and six stormwater basins.

According to Yorkville City Administrator Bart Olson, the property, located at the northeast corner of Eldamain Road and Faxon Road, was bought by a local developer in 2005 and was then annexed from unincorporated Bristol Township to the city of Yorkville. The property was also rezoned from agricultural use to manufacturing use.

The property remained in farm usage since the 2005 purchase as the local developer searched for a potential buyer. In 2023, Chicago-based Green Door Capital bought the property looking for a data center developer like CyrusOne.

CyrusOne is fronting $10 million in construction costs, with the city rebating the price and surrounding property owners paying recapture fees for their usage of extended water and sewer utilities paid upfront by CyrusOne.

The plans with CyrusOne are posted on the city’s website website yorkville.il.us.

The city will hold a public hearing on these plans and annexation plans for developing two more data center campuses 7 p.m., Monday, July 23, City Hall, 651 Prairie Point Drive, Yorkville.

Each of the nine data center buildings is estimated to generate $1 million in annual utility taxes for the city due to the extremely high energy usage to operate their systems. It is currently difficult to estimate, but the campus may generate $10 million in property tax revenues for surrounding area tax bodies based upon a similar data center campus near DeKalb.

“Data centers are some of the best developments relative to other commercial or industrial uses because they are relatively low traffic generators, they do not make much noise, they are very secure facilities, and they are backed by investors and owners that are well capitalized are interested in being good community members,” said Olson. “They do not require a significant city services burden and generate a lot of revenue for local taxing bodies.”

The Yorkville Planning and Zoning Commission held a public hearing a couple months ago. The city says it notified the public on its website, through a public notice and through direct mailers to landowners within 500′ of the property. There are a few homes located near the property.

The project will need to acquire easements for water and sewer infrastructure through voluntary negotiations and purchases with a few of the private area landowners. The city is currently in the process of doing that, Olson said.

Historically, previous annexations by the city have been voluntary on the part of the private landowner, Olson said.

“I don’t think this city council or a future city council will allow a data center site to be near existing residential areas or the river,” said Olson. “Most of (the developers) seem to want to site near the existing substations and power lines.”

Other data centers in the works

According to Data Center Dynamics, two more large data centers are being planned by development partners and Yorkville after annexing more of the surrounding unincorporated Bristol Township.

One is immediately south of the CyrusOne’s current data center proposal, on the other side of Flaxon Road. Green Door Capital and Kelaka LLC each are seeking to annex and rezone approximately 148 acres of unincorporated farmland for the purpose of constructing and operating a future industrial/data center land use.

The other proposed center would be north of CyrusOne’s current data center proposal. Green Door Capital is also filing to annex and rezone approximately 138 acres of unincorporated farmland (in partnership with the Hagemann Family Trust) for the purpose of constructing and operating a future industrial/data center land use.

The information on the project with Kelaka LLC is listed at: (yorkville.il.us).

The information on the project with the Hagemann Family Trust is listed at: (yorkville.il.us).

Olson said mailers have been sent to property owners and the city provided answers to active questions from neighbors. Olson said they have disclosed all staff analysis and memos on each project in public meeting packets. They have also put some signs posted on the properties notifying the public of public hearings and sent out public notices.

Community members looking to voice their opinions or seeking more information can participate in the public hearing and public meetings that occur on the projects, Olson said. Also, they may contact their elected officials through contact information on the city website.

“We can calm concerns by listening to the residents and attempting to address any legitimate concerns through planning and design principles during the development process,” said Olson. “Ultimately, the City Council will be the decider on whether individual properties get developed as data centers or not.”