Despite village approvals, legal action expected against Grayslake data center
Pushback to a planned data center in Grayslake has intensified with a lawsuit in the works amid a steady stream of social media posts and calls for residents to get informed and make their views known at public meetings and elsewhere.
Although a fact sheet regarding T5@ Chicago IV remains on the village website, a question-and-answer option regarding the immense project, between Alleghany Road and Route 83 north of Peterson Road, has been closed.
“Unfortunately, due to notice of impending litigation, and upon advice of counsel, the village cannot at this time offer further responses to questions regarding the approved data center development,” the note reads.
Atlanta-based T5 has received approvals for what the company describes as the next-generation AI-ready data center campus to meet the needs of “hyperscale” and commercial cloud providers.
Village officials have estimated the investment in the phased development — among the largest in Lake County history — could be as much as $18 billion and add significantly to the tax bases of park, fire, school and library districts.
Between September 2024 and May 2025, an advisory committee and the village board over a number of hearings and meetings approved a campus of up to 472 acres with 18 data center buildings totaling not more than 10.1 million square feet.
Site work has been ongoing for the initial stages of the project in the Cornerstone business park.
“I can say T5 has received all the land use and zoning approvals required by the village,” Mayor Elizabeth Davies said Monday.
In the pending suit, opponents want approvals declared invalid and vacated, arguing they are inconsistent with the village’s own adopted policies and were issued through an apparently deficient process.
Opposition emerged this spring. As of Monday afternoon, for example, a Facebook group created in March had 3,396 members and thousands of posts and comments.
About the same time, a coalition of Lake County residents and property owners contacted the Law Office of Ronald D. Cummings, a Plainfield firm that also represents parties opposing data center developments in Yorkville and Joliet.
Grayslake is the third coalition the firm represents in connection with “hyperscale” data center approvals in Illinois, said Chloe Russell, the lead attorney. All three projects are between approval and full construction, she said, and none is generating power or processing data.
“The T5 project at 10.1 million square feet of buildings and 1.55 gigawatts of total ComEd capacity, is squarely hyperscale and is among the largest in the country,” she said.
Among the arguments are the public hearings during the approval cycle were inadequate, objectors did not get meaningful cross-examination and the village didn’t commission any third-party studies to support its conclusions, she added.
Concerns about power and water usage and other potential impacts of data centers have become widespread. Environmental advocates and others have called for comprehensive requirements, controls and protections.
Last Friday, Gov. JB Pritzker said he will direct the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to halt tax incentives for data centers. As the General Assembly adjourned without taking action, Pritzker also called on them to enact comprehensive data center guidelines.
And Tuesday, the Lake County Board is expected to approve a temporary moratorium on data centers in unincorporated areas as it evaluates and develops guidelines.