After Naperville council nixes controversial data center, Pulte Homes development pitched for site
Almost two months after Naperville City Council members rejected plans for a controversial data center near a high-profile intersection, the property owner is soliciting their input on a different development proposal.
The council in January voted 6-1 against the data center project at the eastern entrance to the city’s I-88 corridor after months of pushback from families in surrounding neighborhoods.
The property owner has since requested informal feedback from the city council on a potential residential development for the site. The owner has also tapped Pulte Homes as its development partner on the project. A preliminary site plan shows more than 260 units — both townhouses and rowhomes — to the south of the Nokia complex.
It would continue a recent trend of residential development in the area. M/I Homes is turning a former office property into a luxury enclave of townhouses called the “Northwoods of Naperville.” Pulte also developed the nearby Naper Commons neighborhood. Many of its residents sounded the alarm over the Karis Critical data center.
Opponents said a data center conflicted with Naperville’s own land-use master plan, which designates the future use of the property as “medium-density residential.”
During the city council’s deliberations on that proposal, “the same point was emphasized several times by several members,” attorney Peter Friedman wrote in a letter to Mayor Scott Wehrli and council members.
Friedman’s firm represents Franklin 1960 Lucent Lane, LLC, the property owner. Nokia sold the property for $4.75 million in 2023.
“As disappointed as we were with the Council’s decision on the data center proposal, we took to heart the Council’s and residents’ sentiments and immediately refocused our efforts on a residential proposal that responded directly to that feedback,” Friedman wrote.
Franklin wants council members at their meeting Tuesday night to provide comment on the concept and the potential rezoning of the property.
The city’s Transportation, Engineering and Development department has offered some initial input, suggesting site and building changes “to better blend the proposed residential redevelopment with the office and research nature” of the I-88 corridor.
City staff also suggested apartments at the northeast corner of Warrenville Road and Lucent Lane. A multifamily building, a memo indicates, “as viewed from the roadway, seems more complementary to an office corridor than townhomes fronting that roadway.”
An attorney for the Karis Critical project had argued that a data center would “maintain the integrity of that research and development corridor.”
But area residents were particularly concerned about power consumption, noise pollution, emissions from diesel generators and the proximity to homes.
“As an aside, I for one would be supportive of considering residential zoning in this area consistent with the city's comprehensive master plan, and I've heard others suggest a variety of potential residential and commercial uses that might be appropriate as well,” Councilman Patrick Kelly said in January before voting against the data center.
The proposed residential development would include a homeowners association and a new public road at the north end of the property between the development and the Nokia property, Friedman told officials.