New data center proposal comes before Mount Prospect board

More than three years after Mount Prospect approved a $2.5 billion data center campus on the former United Airlines headquarters site, a revised project is coming back to the village board Tuesday.

The original proposal called for three data center buildings and a substation at Dempster Street, Linneman Road and Algonquin Road.

Cloud HQ, a global company specializing in the design, development and operation of data centers, is proposing two larger buildings, an additional electrical substation, a mechanical yard and a satellite antenna yard.

“Since the approval of the first (planned unit development), the data center industry has experienced significant changes,” Village Planner Ann Choi said. “Legislative changes that impact data center operations and rapid acceleration of artificial intelligence have increased the demand for data infrastructure.”

If the village board approves, construction of the first building is expected to begin in November, with completion targeted for the end of March 2027. Construction on the second building would begin in June 2029, for completion in December, 2030.

The planning and zoning commission last week recommended the plan.

The two buildings proposed are three stories in height, as opposed to the three two-story buildings. There would be a 55-foot wall screen for the mechanical yard.

The mechanical yard would contain equipment originally designed to be housed on rooftops.

Under the new proposal, the petitioner would still contribute $2 million contribution for parks. The money is earmarked for a new splash pad at the Mount Prospect Park District’s RecPlex.

Eventually, the project is expected to generate more than $8 million annually in electric utility taxes for the village.

“The demand for larger scale data center facilities has expanded significantly,” Brett Burnette, director of development for Cloud HQ, told the commission, adding the facility would have a larger megawatt capacity to make it more attractive for tenants. “We feel like this is our best chance to sign leases with tenants that are interested in taking this type of campus.”