Rezoning request for potential data center in Hoffman Estates withdrawn

The firm that owns the 186-acre Plum Farms property at Higgins Road and Route 59 in Hoffman Estates has withdrawn its request to rezone the site to manufacturing use that potentially would have enabled a data center there.

“We got word last night that it had been withdrawn,” Hoffman Estates Village Manager Eric Palm said Wednesday.

That immediately removed the decision from the agenda of Monday’s village board meeting, at which a large crowd of opponents from Hoffman Estates, Barrington Hills and South Barrington was expected.

The action by landowner Karis Critical also removes the possibility of the proposal simply being deferred to another upcoming meeting. The original rezoning request is null and void.

“Whatever they do, they would have to start from the beginning,” Palm said.

The action came a week after opponents living in the area protested at the site, and just a day after Barrington Hills resident Amanda Pollard filed a request for the Illinois Attorney General to investigate whether Hoffman Estates village board members had violated the Open Meetings Act.

She based her complaint on emails among village staff, Karis officials and developer QTS Data Center that suggested a specific plan for a data center was being prepared despite the landowner’s public claim the rezoning was merely an effort to market the site for any type of industrial use.

“I was very surprised and excited, and I’m glad they listened to the community finally,” Pollard said. “I’m excited, but we’re still vigilant. For now, I’ll take it as a win.”

Nevertheless, she didn’t see a reason to withdraw her request to the Attorney General just because Karis had withdrawn its own proposal.

“I don’t think the village acted properly,” she said. “I think my request is still valid.”

Mayor Bill McLeod denied the staff interactions chronicled in public records demonstrated any violation of the Open Meetings Act by board members.

Palm and McLeod said the roles of village staff and the village board are fundamentally different on real estate development issues. While village staff may have been working with the companies involved on a more specific vision for the site, the decision before elected trustees — the only village personnel beholden to the Open Meetings Act — was a more general one on rezoning.

Karis Critical purchased the Plum Farms property in January 2025 after the previous owners had failed to find any traction in plans for a mixed-use development of commercial and residential buildings.