Yorkville mayor asks Project Steel data center to write upfront check to school district

With millions in tax revenues expected from incoming data centers, having a ComEd electrical transmission station line in Yorkville’s backyard has been likened to winning the lottery.

At the public hearing for the 502-acre Project Steel data center development’s annexation, Mayor John Purcell wanted to make sure a portion of the sweepstakes is guaranteed to the Yorkville School District 115.

During the hearing, Purcell told representatives of the developer, Prologis L.P., that he expects the data center developments to become a positive asset for the school district, currently facing a classroom capacity crisis.

“We have a real challenge with our school system, with growth comes the need for future buildings and expansions,” Purcell said at the June 24 city council meeting. “I’d like you to consider having a negotiation with the school district, and we’d like to be involved in these conversations, and have you write an upfront check to the school district to help pay for their building expansions. That’s very important to me. I cannot express that enough.”

Purcell previously requested the developers of the Project Cardinal data center complex to also write an upfront check to the school district.

The school district is undergoing a facility master plan upgrade that will likely involve a public referendum to approve higher taxes to pay for new buildings and classroom expansions.

Purcell also requested the developers to begin the first phase of their construction in the portion of the Project Steel site located within the Yorkville school district. The building site is located around the southeast corner of Galena and Eldamain Road. Part of the site is currently in the Plano School District 88 boundaries.

City officials previously said each of the 18 two-story manufacturing warehouses could generate between $500,000 and $1 million in tax revenues annually. Construction for Project Steel will be in three phases over 20 years, with six data center buildings built in each phase.

During the meeting, the developers said construction could start in two years by the earliest. The first data centers would take up to 18 months to build. It is believed the first large tax revenues would be received by the city in four years.

For full approval, the land must first be annexed by the city, before being rezoned for manufacturing.

Once completed, the data center campus will total 6.8 million square feet of warehouse space, with three on-site electrical substations.

The city is requiring all data centers to have a 500-foot minimum setback from the nearest residential or commercial structure. During the meeting, the developers also agreed to a 100-foot landscape buffer and to keep all buildings, including the on-roof mechanical equipment, below 70 feet in height.

One of the closer large residential areas is the Kylyn’s Ridge subdivision.

There are over 3,000 acres slated for data center construction along the city’s Eldamain Road Corridor. Because their phases of construction are so lengthy, Purcell acknowledged the possibility that the developers may not fully build their sites out.

“If you don’t fill it out in 20 years, would you consider donating the remaining land to the city?” Purcell asked the developers.

The developers said they would be open to donating any excess land.

Purcell also requested that the developers hire organized labor unions for their construction jobs.

“We’ve got some good union people in the area, a lot right here in the community, and some of them are actually looking forward to working on these projects,” Purcell said.

The developers assured Purcell that all of their existing projects in the greater Chicago area employ union labor.

Addressing residents’ concerns about traffic near Kylyn’s Ridge, the developers said their construction vehicles would not travel through their subdivision, which complies with a recently approved city ordinance.

They also said that future electricity rates in the region were going to increase region-wide, regardless of data centers bing constructed specifically in Yorkville.

Several other data center campuses are working their way through city approval, including Project Cardinal. Several residents have argued against their construction near residential areas.

The next hearing for Project Steel is scheduled for the Economic Development Committee meeting on Aug. 5. The developers will be at the meeting to answer any public questions.