‘Few million dollars’ annually in tax incentives for Yorkville data center no longer on the table
The City of Yorkville will no longer provide annual tax incentives to the developers of the CyrusOne data center after the developers agreed to pay the city a one-time $15 million up-front payment. This payment will primarily benefit the Yorkville School District 115 for school construction. This change affects the previously approved CyrusOne project, as well as the Project Cardinal and Project Steel data centers, none of which will receive city incentives.
The City of Yorkville has announced it will no longer offer annual tax incentives to CyrusOne for its 228-acre data center project. This decision follows an agreement where CyrusOne will provide a one-time upfront payment of $15 million to the city, due at the time of the building permit issuance. City Administrator Bart Olson confirmed the previous agreement to rebate a portion of the utility tax, estimated at a few million dollars annually, has been cancelled.
Olson explained that the original rebate was intended to offset an $8.5 million payment from developers for water and sewer infrastructure extensions. However, through recent negotiations, the city was able to "cancel out the $8.5 million dollar payment," ensuring Yorkville will recoup 100% of the utility taxes generated on-site from CyrusOne.
The upfront $15 million payment is designated primarily for the Yorkville School District 115 for school construction, with the remainder allocated to city projects and local nonprofits. Similar to the CyrusOne project, the larger Project Cardinal and Project Steel data centers, also located in the city's Eldamain Corridor, will not receive city incentives; their developers have agreed to pay Yorkville $51 million and $40 million, respectively. CyrusOne developers anticipate receiving their first building permit within the next few months.