Developer withdraws rezoning request for controversial data center in
Hoffman Estates
[July 02, 2026]
By Maggie Dougherty
HOFFMAN ESTATES — After weeks of organizing by concerned neighbors, a
developer in Chicago’s northwest suburbs withdrew its request Tuesday to
rezone land for a hotly debated data center.
The data center would have sat on the edge of the village of Hoffman
Estates’ municipal boundaries, bordering the nearby areas of South
Barrington and Barrington Hills. The project raised serious questions
about how neighboring towns, which have no official say in decision
making, are impacted by large-scale data center developments.
“After several weeks of conversations with the Village and residents,
we’ve decided the right step is to withdraw the current rezoning
request,” Karis Critical spokesman Patrick Skarr said in an email to
Capitol News Illinois. “We heard the feedback clearly, including the
call for a more specific plan before any rezoning. We’ll take the time
to get that right. Should we bring a proposal forward in the future, the
Village and the community will have the details they need to evaluate it
fully and on its merits.”
Barrington Hills resident Amanda Pollard drives past Plum Farms three or
four times a day. When she saw signs go up announcing public notice for
the proposed rezoning, she quickly went online to see what was planned
for the rural property. What she saw worried her, and she began rallying
her neighbors.
“I knew a bit about data centers, and talked to my neighbors, wrote
letters, showed up at the meeting, and then it’s kind of snowballed from
there into what it is now,” Pollard said.
When the Hoffman Estates Plan Commission held a public hearing on June 3
to discuss rezoning plans for Plum Farms, residents showed up in droves,
packing the three-hour meeting and spilling into the hallway to voice
their opposition.
Dozens of residents from Hoffman Estates, South Barrington and
Barrington Hills also sent emails urging commissioners to reject the
proposal.
The Plan Commission voted 4-2 to recommend against rezoning the land,
but the official decision would have been in the hands of the Village
Board, which was set to vote on the rezoning at a now-cancelled meeting
Monday.
The dispute is reflective of a broader trend, as villages and towns
across the state are left to their own devices in data center
negotiations after lawmakers failed to pass regulations this spring.
Transparency concerns
When the Plan Commission held its meeting, discussion was limited to the
issue of rezoning the site from traditional neighborhood and commercial
mixed-use districts to a manufacturing district; residents were told
there were no specific site plans for a data center project.
Karen Daulton Lange, a recently retired village administrator in Lake
Barrington, is now a coordinator at the Flint Creek & Spring Creek
Watersheds Partnership, which submitted a letter to the Plan Commission
opposing the rezoning.
“What I found disappointing in Hoffman Estates is that they did not roll
this all into one package,” Daulton Lange said. “I personally think it
is more transparent, if you’re going to rezone because you have a
developer in mind who’s come to your door, that you would make that
widely available to the public, and ask for the details, which would be
the plans, the environmental studies, the water usage.”
Other residents had concerns about the impacts of a large-scale data
center on traffic, noise and light pollution and air quality.
“None of what you’d need to weigh those impacts is in the record,”
Barrington Hills residents Michael and Christine Irizarry wrote in an
email to board members. “We aren’t against growth. We’re asking you to
expect what a decision this size deserves: a real plan, real studies and
a use that fits where it’s going. None of that is in front of you.”
Hoffman Estates has two other data centers under construction, but they
are in areas already zoned for manufacturing that residents said are
more appropriate than the residential area near forest preserves.
“Nobody here is saying, ‘Don’t do a data center,’ everyone’s saying,
‘Don’t do it here,’” Barrington Hills resident Karen Trzaska said.
Seeking answers
Feeling like they weren’t getting the whole story, opposition organizers
filed a public records request seeking communications from village staff
about the project.
The records they received showed village staff in discussions with Karis
about a potential data center project as early as 18 months ago, as
first reported by the Daily Herald, including a so-called “comfort
letter” signed by Village Manager Eric Palm the day before Karis
purchased the 186-acre property for $45 million in January 2025.
Palm told Karis in the letter, “The Village Board recognizes the
benefits data centers provide for the community” and pledged that staff
would support “necessary zoning and development approvals for a data
center project.”
Palm caveated that staff could not guarantee the actions the Village
Board would take, but said staff would recommend the project’s approval.
It is normal for village staff — who do not work directly for the board
and do not vote — to work with owners and developers on proposed
developments “for months and even years before the projects are
presented to the Board,” according to Hoffman Estates Mayor William
McLeod. When issues are presented to the Board, Palm and other staff
members prepare a memo describing the matter and providing a
recommendation to the Board.
But residents were upset to learn that the project, which they were told
had no specific plans, seemed to have been discussed in detail by staff
for so long before the rezoning request was announced.
“It just seems like we’re doing all this for just for political
theater,” Pollard said. “What’s the point of having a public hearing if
they don’t hear us? They’ve already made up their mind 18 months ago.”
She filed an Open Meetings Act complaint to the Illinois Attorney
General’s office, asking for a review of the board and staff’s behavior.
[to top of second column]
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A sign provides notice for a public meeting of the Hoffman Estates
Plan Commission to discuss rezoning the 186-acre property at Higgins
Road and Route 59. The developer notified the village on July 1 that
it would withdraw the rezoning request after community backlash.
(Capitol News Illinois photo by Maggie Dougherty)
Pollard pointed to emails between the village’s Economic Development
Director Kevin Kramer, also a member of staff, and Karis executives,
including CEO Jake Finley and Executive Vice President Greg Strom, which
she said show Kramer “coordinating private developer access to the Mayor
and trustees outside any public meeting.”
In emails exchanged in late April, Strom asked Kramer whether he and
Finley should meet with McLeod and other board members.
“I think it might be a bit early, but let us give an update on Monday to
the Mayor about the rezoning and see if he’s hearing from any trustees
who might need a refresher meeting before going public with the new
zoning district,” Kramer replied.
McLeod said he did not arrange any private meetings with trustees
regarding the Karis project and said he believes the Village Board keeps
an open mind to all matters that appear on its agenda.
“Just because the staff or the village manager express support for a
development that does not mean the village Board will approve the
development,” McLeod said.
Statewide trends
Though the proposed data center would have been located in Hoffman
Estates, much of the resistance came from residents and leaders of the
neighboring Barrington Hills and South Barrington neighborhood.
“Barrington Hills respects Hoffman Estates’ authority to make land-use
decisions within its jurisdiction,” Village President Brian Cecola told
the Daily Herald. “However, we share the concerns raised by South
Barrington, surrounding residents, local businesses and community
stakeholders.”
And as data centers grow larger, bringing broader environmental and
noise concerns, more areas across the state are grappling with the
question: What role do neighboring communities play in making decisions
about data centers within another municipality?
“It’s a repeated pattern that we’re seeing where surrounding
municipalities are rightfully concerned, and we need to identify a way
that they have a formal voice in the process,” said Rep. Nabeela Syed,
D-Inverness. “I do think municipalities will be looking for more
guidance.”
She pointed to the nearby village of Mundelein, where residents are
concerned about the impact of a data center proposed in the adjacent
village of Grayslake.
Mundelein would not generate revenue from the Grayslake data center
project and only learned of the project “after it was approved, permits
issued, and construction started,” according to a post from Mundelein
Mayor Robin Meier.
Mundelein asked its attorneys to determine whether it had any legal
recourse to challenge the data center. They found it did not.
Karis, also doing business as H.E. Holdings LLC, had recently seen a
similar proposal rejected in Naperville in January after months of
opposition from residents there.
In the legislature, one proposal on the table is Senate Bill 1050,
sponsored by Sen. Darby Hills, R-Barrington Hills, which would prohibit
data centers from being placed within 3 miles of the boundaries of
another municipality without express written consent.
“We are very concerned about local communities having a meaningful voice
before the major industrial developments are approved, so that’s why I
introduced this, so that we can make sure that we get some local
control,” Hills said.
She said her bill, which also adds public notice requirements, could
move during the General Assembly’s veto session, or if the legislature
is called back for a special session.
Last month, Gov. JB Pritzker suspended tax incentives for data centers
starting July 1 and called on lawmakers to pass new data center reforms
during the fall veto session. Since those incentives began in 2019, the
state has committed an estimated $666.6 million in tax credits to data
center projects, the state’s latest report shows.
Syed also said she is exploring ways to draft legislation to give
neighboring communities a seat at the table, as well as ensuring data
centers are built with union labor and other energy and water use
regulations that were outlined in the POWER Act.
‘We can make a difference’
But as data center conversations continue at the state level, residents
in Hoffman Estates have successfully paused data center development at
Palm Farms — at least for now.
Pollard said she was “very happy” to learn about the company’s decision
to withdraw the request and said it gave her hope for residents’ ability
to make their voices heard.
“I can’t imagine that they would pull out without seeing all the
community pushback, and it gives me hope that what we do matters,”
Pollard said.
“So many people were telling me, ‘It’s going to go through no matter
what. These politicians, they don’t listen to us.’ And this shows that
we can make a difference, and we do have a say in our community.”
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