After a rezoning request is withdrawn, Yorkville mayor says city’s ‘had enough’ data center proposals

Yorkville, Illinois, is reportedly "pumping the brakes" on new data center projects following the withdrawal of a rezoning request for a proposed campus. The developer, Matt Gilbert of Chicago-based Green Door Capital, representing property owner Yorkville Nexus V LLC, pulled the application after it failed to gain sufficient support from the Yorkville City Council and had previously not received a positive recommendation from the Planning and Zoning Commission. Mayor John Purcell indicated that the city has approved three major data center projects and feels good about those, but for now, the city has "had enough" and is unlikely to approve further data center proposals. The decision comes amidst significant community criticism, an online petition with nearly 5,000 signatures opposing data centers, and a resident lawsuit. This specific project, sometimes called the Meyer project, aimed to rezone 91 acres for a data center campus, situated near other approved projects like Project Steel and Project Cardinal, as well as a proposed CyrusOne campus. The area has become a hub for data center developments partly due to its proximity to a ComEd substation.