Yorkville council gives green light to controversial 1,000-acre data center campus at nearly six-hour meeting

Following a contentious, nearly six-hour-long meeting, the Yorkville City Council has approved further approvals for a roughly 1,000-acre data center campus called Project Cardinal that has drawn the ire of numerous area residents. The proposed Project Cardinal data center campus is being brought forward by Pioneer Development, LLC, along with the property owners. The development site is just over 1,000 acres in the northwest corner of Yorkville on the border with Sugar Grove. There would be a total of 14 data center buildings at the site, along with two electrical substations, a utility switchyard and stormwater detention basins. The council approved the annexation of the land into Yorkville, a rezoning of the area to a general manufacturing zoning district, and utility, infrastructure and development agreements between the city and Pioneer Development. However, the project faced significant resident opposition, with dozens of individuals speaking out against it during the public comment period. Their concerns included issues like water usage, noise, resident health, potential effects on wildlife, and the future impact of a potential corridor of data centers in the area. The council also discussed another major 540-acre data center project called Project Steel, being developed by Prologis, L.P. That project is seeking annexation, rezoning and approval of a preliminary Planned Unit Development plan from the city. Like Project Cardinal, the Prologis project is promising to provide significant impact fees to the city.