After being rejected in Naperville, company could build data center in Hoffman Estates

Posted June 01, 2026 3:21 pm

Eric Peterson

A company that saw its plans for a Naperville data center rejected in January is now looking to rezone the 186-acre Plum Farms property in Hoffman Estates.

The village’s plan commission will hear the rezoning request Wednesday.

Hoffman Estates Mayor Bill McLeod announced at his state of the village address in February 2025 that Florida-based Karis Critical had bought the property at Higgins Road and Route 59 with an interest in developing the village’s third data center campus.

Now doing business as H.E. Holdings LLC, the property owner is currently only asking for a rezoning from the vacant site’s commercial mixed-use and traditional neighborhood classifications to manufacturing.

If the rezoning is approved, the owner plans to contract with a developer for a detailed proposal.

This news has sparked opposition from residents in nearby Barrington Hills. They have sent letters to the plan commissioners and to state representative Martin McLaughlin, a former Barrington Hills village president.

In one letter, Barrington Hills resident Amanda Pollard shared concerns about the environmental impacts of a data center. She believes this site would differ from Hoffman Estates’ Microsoft and Compass Datacenters campuses being developed nearby.

Hoffman Estates officials are considering a rezoning request, possibly for a third data center campus in the village, for the 186-acre Plum Farms property at the northwest corner of routes 59 and 72. This view looks north toward Old Sutton Road at the intersection with Higgins Road. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com

“The Compass and Microsoft campuses are near busy commercial roads and a former office complex, which makes more sense for that kind of development,” Pollard wrote. “Plum Farms is different. It directly borders quiet residential neighborhoods in Barrington Hills. The village’s own annexation agreement for this property contemplated housing and retail. That vision served the surrounding community. A third data center campus doesn’t.”

Pollard noted that the long-planned development for Plum Farms faced obstacles like a lack of utilities, failing to gain momentum before Karis bought the land.

Pollard is also a co-signer with six fellow Barrington Hills residents in a letter to McLaughlin.

“We are asking you to use your position to oppose this rezoning and to make clear to Hoffman Estates that its neighbors in Barrington Hills have serious concerns,” they wrote. “Data centers run 24/7. They require large cooling systems, fans, chillers and diesel generators that never stop.”

Hoffman Estates Village Manager Eric Palm said the company hasn’t shared details beyond the rezoning request. While it doesn’t specify that it’s for a data center, it also doesn’t deny it.

“We have this process in place to get input and gather that input and decide what we have to do with it,” he said. “We review them with great care.”

Representatives of Karis didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.

The plan commission meets at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at village hall, 1900 Hassell Road in Hoffman Estates.