Joliet has erected signs notifying people of the annexation and preliminary planned unit development for a data center campus.
JOLIET — In another exclusive story, Joliet Patch has learned that an enormous data center campus — one of the largest ever proposed in the entire Chicago region — has been proposed for the city of Joliet and the project could consist of 24 buildings.
“You’re looking at the largest data center in the Chicago region, and that’s the truth,” a source informed Joliet Patch. “It’s 24 buildings. It will be a boon for Joliet, cash-wise, job-wise. You will see a lot of good jobs, over 1,000 construction jobs and 250 to 300 permanent jobs.”
The proposed Joliet Data Center Campus would be built on roughly 800 acres of farmland east of the Chicagoland Speedway NASCAR racetrack, which will be returning to the NASCAR circuit next year after not being utilized in recent years.
This week, the city of Joliet began posting public hearing signs informing the surrounding property owners of the “annexation and preliminary planned unit development for a data center campus.”
The Joliet planning commission will convene a public meeting to review the data center campus in —exactly two weeks — at 4 p.m. on Oct. 16 in the second-floor City Council Chambers.
City of Joliet officials informed Joliet Patch that the city’s public meeting agendas are typically posted online 48 hours before the meeting, therefore, the meeting packets for the data center campus probably won’t be made public for several more days.
If the project wins city of Joliet approval this fall, “I’m assuming it will start next year,” Joliet Patch’s source explained. “It will be at least five years of construction. The buildings will be built in different phases.”
As for the data center campus, in addition to the 24 buildings, which would be approximately 200,000 square feet in size, there will be five switch yards.
Hillwood, a Perot company led by Ross Perot Jr., is spearheading the Joliet data center development, the source indicated. The crossroads for Joliet campus include Schweitzer Road, Ridge Road and Millsdale Road. The development, if it comes to fruition, will take place on the large land parcel in the Elwood area known as Bernhard Farms.
“Built on the legacy of the Perot family, Hillwood is a culmination of business success that began as far back as 1962 with the founding of EDS,” Hillwood’s website proclaims. “The vision and know-how that shaped Hillwood’s origins in 1988 still drive the company’s commitment to partners, clients and communities today. As an economic engine for neighborhoods and business districts around the world, Hillwood continues to pursue diverse business opportunities through Hillwood Energy and the co-investments of Hillwood West. We seek growth not for growth’s sake, but to drive progress and shape a brighter future.”
Joliet Patch’s source indicated that Joliet’s large-scale data center will be contingent upon some modifications to the Biometric Information Protection Act in Illinois, commonly referred to as BIPA. Illinois is one of five states in the country that have similar BIPA laws. The source also pointed out that Hillwood has not identified the companies that would use the site. Logical possibilities could include Google, Meta and Microsoft, the source added.