By Stephanie Irvine

Since word of a nearly 800-acre data center became public, area residents have speculated about the potential impact on the community, its water supply and the reliability of the local power grid if the center were built.

Little was known about the Joliet Technology Center development outside of the fact that it was proposed by mega land developer Hillwood, the Ross Perot company.

Locally, Hillwood has built some logistics warehousing developments to the north and south of Joliet, which is how Hillwood’s Midwest Market Leader and Executive Vice President Don Schoenheider says they found the land.

Why data centers? As a major player in real estate, Hillwood goes where there is a need, and he says there’s a big need for storing data.

Farmers Weekly Review had the opportunity to sit down with Schoenheider ahead of the open house on February 12 to get answers to some of the most pressing questions the public has posed. Schoenheider offered candid responses.

With regard to how Hillwood found the site, Schoenheider said Hillwood had worked with NASCAR and was in talks with them about developing the track for another use before they decided to bring racing back to Joliet.

“We just started to realize this would be a really good site. There’s meaningful power that cuts through the corner — specifically, four 345kv lines that go through the site,” Schoenheider explained.

The impact on the grid has been a huge concern for residents worried their electricity rates will skyrocket or power will become unreliable if the data center gets built.

“Reliability is the most important thing users are looking at. Other data centers like ours will only help increase the reliability of their system. If there are things we need to do to ensure reliability or contribute to improvements to their network, we’re going to pay for it. It should improve reliability,” Schoenheider said.

As for rates, Schoenheider said they don’t buy power from ComEd, they buy it direct through the PJM network, which controls generation and pricing.

Net pricing is set on quarterly rates. Schoenheider explained that the bigger question is capacity and how much the power provider can keep current on demand. The more power they can get into their system, the more rates will stay the same — and Schoenheider says their investments in the power grid will only stabilize power.

“Eighty percent of internet traffic goes through Northern Virginia. Dominion that serves that utility has had the lowest rate increases anywhere in the country. There’s no correlation between rate increases and data centers,” Schoenheider said.

ComEd will build a substation nearby to serve the development’s power needs, and the project is approved to generate 1.8GW of power within its currently planned 24 buildings.

“All the costs associated with that are being provided by the project and not by rates,” Schoenheider said.

Generator noise is also a question that frequently comes up. Schoenheider said they will have generators on site, just in case of an emergency power outage, which will run for about 10 to 15 minutes each week. He said they’ve conducted noise studies, which will be available at the open house.

They also don’t use solar energy and are not affiliated with any solar projects, including the nearby 5,000-acre plan proposed by Earthrise. The reason, he said, is that they just don’t generate enough reliable, consistent power.

While that answered how they stumbled across the location, the question of “why so big” and “for whom” still loomed as large as the 795 acres planned for development.

Schoenheider explained it is a “unique circumstance” to find that amount of power in locations around the country. The fact that it’s sandwiched in between the intermodal, industrial warehousing, NASCAR, and little-to-no residential made Hillwood find it to be what Schoenheider called “the perfect site for a data center.”

Schoenheider said it would look like an office building in the front with a warehouse in the back, adding they’re going to have hundreds of employees, and they want them to “feel good about working there.” It will be landscaped and shouldn’t be obtrusive, he added.

Hillwood doesn’t currently have a user for the project, though they’re confident they’ll find one and can make the finishing touches. Schoenheider said they’re in talks with dozens of companies, ranging from cloud and enterprise providers that store digital health records or banking information to AI users who would be able to use the space.

“These companies demand more and more power, and they’re looking for campuses that they can build out and control the environment, security, power, and be off by themselves. A small site might not give them that flexibility,” Schoenheider said.

Having a large space allows companies to scale and gives them the option to consolidate construction and development costs.

But Schoenheider said they are not seeking any type of tax abatements, incentive or breaks. Hillwood says they’re paying for the entire project since they consider it that big of an economic boon.

Schoenheider called the project “a generational opportunity for Joliet and Will County,” generating $2.1 billion in tax revenue, two-thirds of which will go to the schools.

The project is estimated to create up to 10,000 construction jobs, and the large union labor force here locally is another reason why Schoenheider says the space is attractive. But construction jobs are temporary.

Once complete, there should be 700 to 800 full-time, permanent jobs in the technology sector, Schoenheider says, bringing in six-figure salaries. They’re also talking with the local college officials to help train people for these jobs, so they can bring employment opportunities to local residents.

Schoenheider said water usage will not drain the system, another concern voiced by residents.

“Technology is moving at lightning speed,” Schoenheider said, acknowledging that data centers used to use massive amounts of water. Although data centers aren’t expected to be obsolete any time soon — they look at projections over a 30-year span — how they are developed and their impact on the environment have changed drastically, Schoenheider explained.

“These facilities will be cooled with a closed-loop water system. They will fill up, and we’ll regenerate that water. The water used would be the equivalent to a campus of office buildings or residential water system. Joliet is very comfortable that the water will be something they can reasonably accommodate,” Schoenheider said.

“The days of multiple millions of gallons per day are behind us,” Schoenheider said. He was confident the usage wouldn’t dry up wells or compromise local water sources.

As for what water they would use, Schoenheider wasn’t sure because he didn’t know when exactly the city would switch over to Lake Michigan water piped down from Chicago. He thought he had heard 2027 for that switch, and their buildings wouldn’t be operational until 2028.

Hillwood historically does not have a background in data center development, he said, so they’re working with a partner to make sure it’s done right. They’ve partnered with PowerHouse Data Centers, a division of American Real Estate Partners, to make sure they’re accommodating clients, using the latest technology, and finding the right sites, Schoenheider said.

“I hope the community understands what a positive impact it will be,” Schoenheider said, comparing the data center to warehousing.

“If we or someone else were to develop it for warehouses, we could do 7 million square feet of warehouses, generating 3 million trips per day. I can’t imagine the impact that would make.”

Stephanie Irvine is a freelance reporter.