Data center developer makes $950,000 offers for homes to be annexed into Elk Grove Village
At long last, Elk Grove Village officials have voted to annex an unincorporated residential subdivision that's remained unscathed by surrounding industrial and commercial redevelopment since the 1950s.
But it still could be months before the 36-acre annexation is official amid a still-unresolved, multijurisdictional dispute over fire protection services.
And it might take up to a decade for a proposed multibillion-dollar, three-building data center campus with electric substation to come to fruition where 55 homes and businesses stand today.
The village board Tuesday night approved a series of ordinances that pave the way for Dallas-based Stream Data Centers' proposed redevelopment of the Roppolo subdivision - roughly bounded by Landmeier Road on the south, Dierking Terrace on the west, Vera Lane on the north, and Richard Lane on the east.
The actions included an industrial district rezoning, vacation of existing public roadways, and nine variations that included allowing building heights of up to 120 feet instead of 60 feet.
With buildings 4 stories tall and covering 2 million square feet, the development would be Elk Grove Village's largest data center.
"It's our third development here, and it's been a very good market," said Anthony Bolner, a partner at Stream. "There is a very robust power and connectivity infrastructure in the area that serves a diverse base of data center users."
Other developers have made overtures to the Roppolo property owners over the years, and there have been other starts and stops - including litigation and complications involving the stalled negotiations among three municipalities and the Elk Grove Rural Fire Protection District.
Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson tried to tie the data center approvals to the fire district board's approval of an intergovernmental agreement for fire and emergency medical services there, until Johnson backed away last month.
The matter ended up in court this week, with Mount Prospect and Elk Grove Township seeking an injunction to prevent the financially strapped fire district from selling its assets. Mount Prospect is trying to set up a special service area and take over fire service.
In the meantime, Stream was able to assemble almost all of the half-acre lots in the neighborhood - enough to form a rectangular plat on which to build.
Most property owners will be paid $950,000, Johnson said. When a trucking warehouse developer got only half as many owners to agree to sell four years ago, the offers ranged from $239,500, for vacant land, to $750,000 for houses, according to land title documents.
"Folks in the audience, you can go, 'Ching, ching,' it's all done for ya," Johnson told many of the homeowners who attended the village board meeting Tuesday night. "I know this has been a longtime coming. I know there's been ups and downs. But it's going to be best for Stream and the homeowners to have this all go through."
Closings are scheduled for this month and next, but some homeowners will be able to stay for a few more months as part of negotiated lease-back periods, Bolner said.
The annexation won't take effect until the homeowners move out, under terms of a pre-annexation and development agreement the board also approved Tuesday.
The developer is set to take possession of all single-family homes in the neighborhood, expect one, by Feb. 12, 2024. It would acquire the final home, at 700 Roppolo Drive, by July 15, 2024, according to a preliminary timeline. All commercial properties - mostly on the east side of the site - are expected to vacate by April 1, 2025.
A groundbreaking on the first data center is scheduled for late 2024 with occupancy by early 2026, per the phased development schedule.