The Joliet City Council voted 8-1 to approve construction of what has been described as the largest data center in the United States by approved capacity, authorizing a USD 20 billion complex that will draw 1.8 gigawatts of electrical power at full buildout and cover 795 acres of land southwest of Chicago.

The Vote and What Led to It

The approval came three days after a public hearing that ran for more than six and a half hours, drawing hundreds of residents who called for a no vote.

The session was described as the largest Joliet City Council meeting in decades. The original vote, scheduled for, was postponed before eight council members voted in favor.

Councilmember Suzanna Ibarra cast the sole dissenting vote. Supporters pointed to the fiscal benefits the project would deliver to local government and schools.

Opponents raised concerns about potential strain on regional electrical infrastructure and broader environmental and community impacts.

The approval package included a zoning change converting the project site from agricultural A-1 classification to light industrial I-1, as well as a formal annexation agreement between the site in Jackson Township and the municipality of Joliet.

The site sits at the intersection of Rowell and Bernhard roads, near the Chicagoland Speedway circuit, approximately 65 kilometers southwest of Chicago.

Scale and Design of the Joliet Technology Center

The project, named the Joliet Technology Center, will be developed by a joint venture between Hillwood Investment Properties, a Dallas-based firm connected to the Perot family, and PowerHouse Data Centers, a Virginia-based subsidiary of American Real Estate Partners.

The design calls for 24 two-story buildings totaling 6.9 million square feet, or approximately 640,000 square meters, of built area.

At full buildout, the complex will consume 1.8 gigawatts of electrical power, a figure that has been compared in scale to the output capacity of the Hoover Dam hydroelectric plant.

Construction is planned across four phases, with the project expected to generate 10,000 construction jobs at peak over five years. An additional 700 permanent jobs are projected once the facility reaches operational status.

Financial Commitments to Joliet and Its Schools

The financial terms negotiated as part of the approval are substantial. Over 30 years, the project is projected to generate USD 2.1 billion in tax revenue to the municipality and local school districts combined.

Hillwood committed USD 100 million in direct payments to the municipality following the council's approval.

The Joliet Township High School district is set to receive USD 677 million over the 30-year period.

Joliet Junior College will receive USD 76 million. The municipality itself will collect USD 310 million directly under the terms of the agreement, in addition to the broader tax revenue projections.

Energy Infrastructure and Community Concerns

A central point of contention during the public hearing was the project's demand on Commonwealth Edison, the regional electric utility known as ComEd. At 1.8 gigawatts of total capacity, the Joliet Technology Center would place a significant new load on the grid serving northeastern Illinois.

To address these concerns, the project included commitments to the phased installation of dedicated substations.

Transmission contracts have been approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission as part of the arrangement.

Opponents remained unconvinced, raising questions about the long-term impact on regional grid stability and the broader infrastructure demands that a project of this magnitude would create over successive construction phases.

Who Is Building It and Why They Chose Joliet

Hillwood Investment Properties was founded in 1988 by Ross Perot Jr., son of Texas businessman and former presidential candidate Ross Perot. The firm invests in industrial, residential, and logistics real estate development across more than 20 American states.

PowerHouse Data Centers was established in 2021 as a subsidiary of American Real Estate Partners and specializes in developing hyperscale data center facilities for large cloud operators.

The developers identified three primary reasons for selecting Joliet as the site. The first was energy access, citing the robustness of the ComEd network and its capacity for expansion.

The second was fiber connectivity, with internet backbone lines linking Chicago to the broader Midwest running near the site.

The third was water supply, with the Cambrian-Ordovician Aquifer providing a stable source.

Additional factors included permissive zoning for light industrial uses, an available regional workforce, and proximity to a major logistics hub at the convergence of Interstates 80, 55, and 355.

Financial Model and Potential Tenants

The financial model for the Joliet Technology Center is structured around selling buildings to large technology companies through build-to-suit arrangements. No tenants have been publicly confirmed.

Analysts have identified Google, Amazon, Meta, and Oracle as potential occupants based on the hyperscale nature of the facility, though none of those companies have been named by the developers or the city council as confirmed parties to the project.