Mapping the Data Centers in and around DuPage County

DuPage County has quickly become a hotspot for data centers in the Chicago region. Here’s a rundown of the major data center facilities currently operating or under development in DuPage and immediately adjacent towns:

• Itasca (Hamilton Lakes): The Hamilton Lakes business park in Itasca hosts a cluster of data centers. Tech giant NTT (formerly RagingWire) already operates three data center buildings there and has plans for a fourth facility after purchasing two office buildings on the campuschoosedupage.com. This expansion will bring even more servers and cloud storage capacity to the site.

• Oak Brook: DataBank operates a multi-tenant data center at 1808 Swift Drive in Oak Brook. This “ORD4” Chicago Tri‑State facility offers roughly 147,000 sq. ft. of raised floor space and around 10–25 megawatts of IT load capacityinterconnection.fyidatacenters.com. It’s a former enterprise data center (once run by Latisys/Zayo) that now serves various business customers.

• Downers Grove: At 1501 Opus Place in Downers Grove, there’s a four-story 115,000 sq. ft. data center that has been in operation for yearsmapletreeindustrialtrust.com. Originally built for corporate IT (Acxiom and later Ensono), it’s now owned by a real estate trust and underscores how DuPage’s office parks have been repurposed for data storage needs.

• Carol Stream: This year, Carol Stream saw construction begin on its first-ever data center. Developer Oppidan is building a 90,000 sq. ft. facility on a long-vacant 11-acre industrial site (a former chemical plant that sat empty for nearly a decade)choosedupage.com. The new data center is slated to open in 2026choosedupage.com, turning an eyesore into a tax-generating use. Village officials are excited to “welcome a data center into [their] diverse business community” for the first timechoosedupage.com.

• Wood Dale: On the county’s northeastern edge, Wood Dale is becoming a major data center campus. CyrusOne, a global data center developer, is building a huge complex west of Route 83 between Bryn Mawr and Foster Ave. Plans call for six data center buildings totaling about 1.4 million sq. ft. by 2032choosedupage.com. This hyperscale campus will accommodate massive server farms and is one of the largest developments of its kind in Illinoisstreamdatacenters.comstreamdatacenters.com. Local officials have embraced the project, even partnering with ComEd to fast-track a new electric substation to power the campusstreamdatacenters.comstreamdatacenters.com.

• Naperville: Naperville doesn’t yet have a large colocation data center – but one is in the works (more on that below). It does have some smaller facilities; for example, an AT&T data center on Western Ave and other enterprise server sites in its I-88 corridor. Additionally, Naperville’s neighbor Aurora (which overlaps DuPage and Kane counties) has quietly become a data center hub: five data center buildings have already been built on Aurora’s far east side, with another five approved but not yet constructeddailyherald.com. Aurora’s data centers include at least one CyrusOne campus off Diehl Road and the private facility housing the Chicago Mercantile Exchange’s trading engines. In fact, Governor J.B. Pritzker was on hand in late 2024 to break ground on CyrusOne’s second Aurora campus, a 32-acre, 40 MW developmentcapitolnewsillinois.comcapitolnewsillinois.com.

• Beyond DuPage (Adjacent Towns): Just outside DuPage, Elk Grove Village in northwest Cook County has become the region’s most famous data center cluster. Elk Grove now hosts 11 data centers (run by Equinix, Digital Realty, etc.) and is adding morenetworkworld.com. In a dramatic move, Elk Grove’s leadership even facilitated the purchase and teardown of an entire 34-acre residential subdivision – 55 homes bought for an average of $950k each – to clear land for a new 2 million sq. ft. data center campus by Stream Data Centersnetworkworld.comnetworkworld.com. That campus, expected to open in 2026, will feature four-story buildings on former neighborhood streetsnetworkworld.com. Elk Grove’s mayor and board were “hugely supportive” of the project, reflecting how aggressively some towns are courting data center investmentsnetworkworld.com. Nearby, the former Sears headquarters in Hoffman Estates (Cook County) was also demolished to make way for a sprawling data center complexdailyherald.com. And farther west, DeKalb landed a massive Facebook/Meta data center with the help of 20-year local utility discounts and state incentives (showing the lengths jurisdictions will go to attract these facilities).

 A rendering of the proposed Karis data center in Naperville, designed with a sleek office-like façade. The 211,000 sq. ft. facility (36MW of IT load) would replace a demolished Lucent office building along the I-88 corridorclimate.uchicago.educlimate.uchicago.edu. Developers say the design includes extensive landscaping, sound suppression, and a glass-accented lobby to blend into its corporate park surroundings.

New Developments: Approved and In the Pipeline

Several new data center projects are in motion for DuPage County, promising to reshape old properties into high-tech server hubs:

• Naperville – “Innovation Corridor” Data Center: In Naperville, Karis Critical is under contract to purchase 40 acres of the former Alcatel-Lucent campus (near Naperville & Warrenville Roads) to build a multi-phase data center campusdailyherald.com. Originally proposed as two large buildings, the plan was scaled back to a single 211,000 sq. ft. building with 36 MW capacitydailyherald.com after intense feedback from the community. In November 2025, Naperville’s Planning and Zoning Commission endorsed the revised one-building plan in an 8–1 vote despite vocal neighbor oppositiondailyherald.comdailyherald.com. The proposal now heads to the City Council for a final decision in early 2026.

  Karis has made a “community stewardship pledge” to sweeten the deal: the developer promises at least $250 million investment, enrollment in Naperville’s green energy program to offset 100% of the data center’s electricity with renewable energy credits, and even a ban on crypto-mining or AI tenants to avoid extreme power or noise profilesdailyherald.com. If approved, the Naperville facility would generate an estimated $2.25 million in local taxes each year (about $1.5M to the city and $0.5M to School District 203) – all with “zero student generation” as the developer cheekily points outdailyherald.comnapervilledatacenter.com. The site has sat vacant for 25 years, so city officials see a chance to revitalize the I-88 “Innovation Corridor” with a modern usenapervilledatacenter.comnapervilledatacenter.com. Mayor Scott Wehrli noted that data centers are now the “No. 1” sought-after use in Naperville’s office/industrial zonesdailyherald.com. However, some council members (and many residents) remain cautious, raising questions about the huge power draw and proximity to homes – more on those concerns later.

• Lisle – Lockformer Site Redevelopment: In Lisle, a data center is proposed for the old Lockformer factory property at 711 Ogden Avenue (near Ogden & Yackley). This 18-acre brownfield site, once infamous for industrial contamination, has been marketed as a prime 50 MW data center location due to its access to robust power and fiber linesdatacenterdynamics.comdatacenterdynamics.com. A developer is now seeking approval to build a 257,000 sq. ft. data center facility on the parcelfacebook.com. The site is surrounded by a mix of uses – including a daycare, post office, and residential neighborhoods – making this proposal controversial for nearby homeowners. Lisle’s Ogden Avenue corridor plan envisions high-quality redevelopment, but residents are concerned a large, windowless server warehouse might not be the best neighbor for a semi-residential area. The project’s details are still emerging, as it works through Lisle’s approval process.

• Aurora – Continued Expansion: As mentioned, Aurora (far East Side) already has multiple data centers, and the momentum hasn’t stopped. Just before Aurora enacted a moratorium (pause) on new data centers in late 2025, developers filed two more applications for data centers in the citydailyherald.com. Those proposed facilities are now on hold pending new zoning rules, but they signal that Aurora’s accessible land and infrastructure are still in high demand. Meanwhile, CyrusOne’s second Aurora campus, which broke ground in 2024, is moving forward – slated to be a 40MW colo center opening by 2026capitolnewsillinois.com. Aurora’s first CyrusOne site (off E. Diehl Rd) taught some hard lessons about noise (diesel generators there drew complaints), so any new builds will likely come with stricter conditions (see Aurora’s moratorium notes below).

• Others in the Region: Wood Dale’s giant CyrusOne campus (described above) is under construction after securing village permits. Itasca’s new NTT data center at Hamilton Lakes has village approval as well – demolition of old offices will make way for that high-tech facilitychoosedupage.com. And Carol Stream’s Oppidan project is fully approved and being built, with village leaders hailing the transformation of a long-vacant site into a tax-paying data centerchoosedupage.comchoosedupage.com. These projects all benefited from relatively smooth zoning approvals, as they’re on land long earmarked for industrial or tech use. In Elk Grove Village (just north of DuPage), officials even annexed and rezoned an entire residential subdivision to pave the way for Stream Data Centers’ new campusnetworkworld.comnetworkworld.com – demonstrating the extraordinary measures some towns take to accommodate this trend.

 Aerial rendering of CyrusOne’s planned Wood Dale data center campus (view facing Route 83). This 1.4-million sq. ft. campus will house six sprawling data center buildingschoosedupage.com. Note the proximity of some residential and commercial areas around the site – a reminder that even “industrial” projects can border neighborhoods. Wood Dale officials are banking on the campus to boost the tax base, while enforcing buffers and sound mitigation to protect nearby homes.

Why Towns Are Eager to Attract Data Centers

It’s clear that local governments are rolling out the red carpet for data centers. From DuPage County villages to the State of Illinois, there are strong incentives and financial motivations driving this trend:

• Tax Incentives (Illinois’ Big Play): In 2019, Illinois passed a landmark law creating the Data Center Investment Program, which offers major tax breaks to qualifying data centers. New or expanding data centers that invest at least $250 million and create 20+ jobs can get a 10-year exemption on state and local sales taxes for all equipment and building materialschoosedupage.com. This is a huge savings (worth tens of millions for a large facility) that substantially lowers construction and upgrade costs. If the project is in an underserved area, there’s an extra credit equal to 20% of construction wageschoosedupage.com. These incentives have been a game-changer: Illinois reports that from 2020–2023, the program gave out $650 million in tax exemptions, spurring over $6.5 billion in data center investments and creating 469 permanent jobs (plus thousands of construction jobs)capitolnewsillinois.comcapitolnewsillinois.com. Governor Pritzker often touts this as proof Illinois is “a home for high-tech, high-growth industries”gov-pritzker-newsroom.prezly.comcapitolnewsillinois.com. For example, CyrusOne’s Aurora projects alone received an estimated $25 million in state tax breaks in 2022capitolnewsillinois.com, influencing the company’s decision to expand here. In short, the state is literally paying to lure these facilities – and it’s working, as Illinois/Chicago is now ranked a top 2 data center market globallychoosedupage.com.

• Boosting the Tax Base (Property & Local Taxes): Aside from state-level perks, municipalities salivate over the property tax revenue a big data center can generate. These buildings are expensive to construct, filled with high-value equipment, and typically subject to regular property taxes (there’s no widespread property tax abatement for data centers in Illinois, so far). The appeal is that data centers consume lots of land and power but few local services – they don’t send kids to school, don’t require weekly garbage pickup like homes, and once built they generate very little traffic. As one attorney told Naperville officials, “The data center buildings put off an extraordinary amount of tax revenue… it’s a huge economic boon for the city”dailyherald.com. For instance, the proposed Naperville center would pay about $3 million annually in taxes, including $1 million every year to the school district with zero new students to educatedailyherald.com. That kind of revenue helps fund schools, parks, police, and property tax relief for residents. It’s a similar story in Carol Stream: turning a defunct factory into a $1 billion data center project is expected to create a “windfall” of new tax dollars for local government coffersnapervilledatacenter.com. Towns also often charge high utility taxes or fees on the massive electricity usage (if they have a municipal utility, like Naperville does, the data center is a dream customer). Bottom line: a single data center can contribute as much to the tax base as an entire subdivision of homes or a big shopping center, but without the usual burdens on schools, roads, or public services.

• Jobs and Economic Development: Data centers don’t employ hundreds of people on-site, but they do bring some permanent high-skilled jobs (technicians, engineers, security, facilities managers) and lots of construction jobs up front. The Naperville project, for example, is estimated to “create and sustain up to 341 jobs” (direct and indirect) and generate $27 million in annual payroll during its construction and operation phasenapervilledatacenter.com. Local officials see these projects as part of a strategy to attract tech companies and investment. A new data center can act as digital infrastructure that lures other businesses (who may lease server space or just see the area as tech-friendly). Naperville’s economic development team explicitly hopes the Karis data center will “drive new tech-focused development” in the I-88 corridor and help them recruit other high-tech firmsnapervilledatacenter.com. Likewise, Elk Grove Village’s leadership credits their data center cluster with cementing the village’s reputation as a “leading data center marketplace”, which in turn attracts more cloud and network companiesstreamdatacenters.comstreamdatacenters.com. These facilities also often source local vendors for maintenance, landscaping, etc., providing ongoing economic activity beyond their walls.

• Productive Reuse of Challenging Sites: Many data centers are being built on properties that were hard to redevelop for other uses – vacant corporate campuses, old industrial land, or sites far from retail centers. For instance, the former Lucent/Alcatel site in Naperville had languished for 25 years, and the Lockformer site in Lisle has sat unused due to environmental cleanup issues. Data center developers are willing to tackle these sites because location needs (access to power/fiber and some buffer acreage) outweigh concerns like obsolete buildings or contamination (which they can remediate). By approving a data center, local governments can turn blight into an asset. Carol Stream’s mayor noted how exciting it was to see a long-vacant, dilapidated plant demolished and replaced with a modern facility and landscapingchoosedupage.comchoosedupage.com. In other words, data centers are helping towns solve “untapped potential” sites that no one else wanted to invest in.

• Partnerships and Infrastructure Upgrades: Data center deals often come with infrastructure investments that benefit the wider community. Because these facilities need robust utilities, their developers frequently pay to improve roads, electricity grids, and water systems. In Naperville, Karis has committed to pay 100% of the costs for any electric utility upgrades needed to support the data center, so that the city and its ratepayers aren’t on the hooknapervilledatacenter.com. In Elk Grove, the demand from Stream’s new campus prompted ComEd to build a brand-new substation – which will not only feed the data center but also “release capacity to all data center developments in the area,” raising all boats togetherstreamdatacenters.com. Towns appreciate that these projects often improve infrastructure reliability for everyone. Additionally, data center operators often engage in community support (sponsoring STEM programs, donating to local causes) to bolster their acceptance.

Taken together, it’s no surprise that local leaders are enthusiastic about landing data centers. As Elk Grove’s mayor put it during a recent groundbreaking, these developments “foster innovation and economic growth while reinforcing our commitment to the tech community”streamdatacenters.com. And importantly for elected officials, they demonstrate that the region is keeping up with the digital economy – a point of civic pride. In the Chicagoland area, we’ve seen a kind of “gold rush” mentality: municipalities that move fast to accommodate data centers reap the rewards, while those that hesitate risk losing out to neighboring towns or other states. Illinois’ generous incentives have other states (like Indiana) now playing catch-up to stay competitiveminnesotareformer.com. So from the perspective of a city council, approving a data center can feel like a win-win: economic development, higher tax revenues, and a signal to the world that your town is tech-forward.

Of course, that’s only one side of the story. Many homeowners and environmental groups have raised concerns about the rapid spread of these facilities. It’s crucial to balance the equation by examining those quality-of-life issues and whether they’re being adequately addressed.

Concerns and Impacts: Noise, Power, Water, and Home Values

Whenever a data center is proposed near a residential area, a common set of concerns arises. Neighbors worry about constant noise from giant cooling fans, diesel exhaust from backup generators, strain on the local power grid, heavy water usage, and potential declines in property value or quality of life. How valid are these concerns? Let’s explore each and see what evidence or experience in our area shows:

Noise and Nuisances

Data centers can be noisy – but the level of noise and its impact on neighbors depend a lot on facility design and operation. The main sources of sound are industrial cooling systems (fans, chillers) that run 24/7, and diesel emergency generators which typically sit outside in rows. Under normal conditions, the generators only run during weekly or monthly test cycles, but even those tests can produce a loud hum or rumble for a short time. Cooling equipment, on the other hand, runs continuously to keep servers cool, and can create a constant background whir.

Residents near Aurora’s CyrusOne data center know this all too well. Some have described the noise as “unlivable,” saying they “suffered for years” from an incessant hum and periodic generator roardailyherald.com. In fact, the complaints became so heated that in 2025 the Aurora City Council enacted a 6-month moratorium on new data centers until it could update its codes and require better noise mitigationdailyherald.comdailyherald.com. CyrusOne, to its credit, responded by installing permanent sound walls around generators, adding rooftop noise barriers for chillers, and beefing up landscaping to dampen sounddailyherald.com. These retrofits are ongoing, but have reportedly improved the situation. Aurora’s experience is a cautionary tale: if a data center is built without strict noise limits or buffers, it can disturb nearby homes and even trigger political backlash.

Naperville residents, keenly aware of Aurora’s issues, raised similar fears about the Karis proposal. People from the adjacent Naper Commons subdivision and other neighborhoods packed public hearings to talk about noise disrupting their peace (and even wildlife in a forest preserve across the road)ltdo.org. The city responded by commissioning expert sound studies and grilling the developer on mitigation. Karis’s sound engineer concluded that noise from the Naperville data center would be virtually imperceptible at the nearest homes, given the distance (several hundred feet), the planned setbacks and berms, and the use of high-end mufflers and acoustic enclosuresnapervilledatacenter.com. The building’s design locates the loudest equipment toward the center of the site, with solid walls and architectural features to block sound. Additionally, Naperville may impose restrictions like no generator testing at night, etc., as part of the conditional use. The Plan Commission chair in Naperville noted that their lengthy review essentially served as a built-in “moratorium” to ensure all concerns (especially noise) were addressed before approvaldailyherald.com.

In short, noise is a legitimate concern, but one that modern data center projects are increasingly prepared to handle. Homeowners should verify that any proposed facility near them includes a detailed acoustic analysis and a commitment to meet local noise ordinances at the property line (often expressed in decibels). Look for features like sound walls, generator enclosures, and vegetation buffers in the plans. It’s also worth noting that day-to-day noise from a data center is steady and mechanical – akin to a distant HVAC unit – not loud bangs or sirens. It generally doesn’t fluctuate or create the kind of intermittent disturbance that, say, a busy trucking warehouse or airport might. Many homeowners find that beyond a certain distance (a few hundred yards), a well-designed data center’s hum blends into background noise (especially in areas already near highways). However, if you’re right next door to a poorly mitigated facility, it can indeed be a constant annoyance. That’s why residents have pushed for greater setbacks and even requested that data centers be kept in industrial parks “not near their families”dailyherald.com. The good news: local officials in DuPage appear to be listening – Naperville’s approval, for example, will likely enforce the promised noise controls as a condition, and Aurora’s new rules will ensure future centers have improved sound dampening.

Electric Power Demand

The power consumption of data centers is enormous, leading to two worries: Can our grid handle it, and could it drive up electric costs or crowd out other users? These facilities run tens of thousands of servers 24/7, drawing megawatts of electricity continuously. To put it in perspective, 1 megawatt (MW) can power roughly 225 typical housesdailyherald.com. The planned Naperville data center is 36 MW – equivalent to the power use of about 8,000–20,000 homes (estimates vary; Naperville’s own utility director said 36MW equals roughly 20,000 Naperville households’ usageclimate.uchicago.edu). Having one new building suddenly gulp down 10%+ of a city’s entire electric capacity is no small matterdailyherald.com.

However, local power providers and officials are tackling this head-on. Naperville has its own municipal electric utility, and its engineers studied the Karis center’s impact. They found the nearby Indian Hill substation can supply the first phase (36MW) with existing capacitydailyherald.com, though some reinforcements to the distribution network will be needed. As noted, Karis has committed to fund those upgradesdailyherald.com. Naperville is also in the midst of renegotiating its wholesale power contracts, and council members have said any new agreement must account for serving data centers without burdening other customersdailyherald.comdailyherald.com. Essentially, the goal is to ensure the data center pays its way for the extra power – through infrastructure investments and high usage rates – so that regular homeowners aren’t subsidizing its electricity. City Councilman Ian Holzhauer put it plainly: “Who’s going to supply our energy for this? That’s not at all clear,” urging careful planning before signing off on the projectdailyherald.com. These discussions are happening in the open, giving residents a chance to weigh in on whether, for example, Naperville should build new substations or seek more power from the grid to support such facilities.

In the broader region, ComEd (the regional utility) has been heavily involved wherever clusters emerge. ComEd’s CEO noted an “explosion of data center investment” in northern Illinois and emphasized that the grid will rise to meet itcapitolnewsillinois.com. ComEd is investing in transmission upgrades and new substations (like the one in Elk Grove) to deliver enough powerstreamdatacenters.comstreamdatacenters.com. A report by CBRE did caution that obtaining large power feeds in Chicagoland can be a challenge, sometimes taking months or years of coordinationcapitolnewsillinois.com. But ComEd’s reliability record is strong, and Illinois has a surplus of generation capacity (especially with its fleet of nuclear plants). Governor Pritzker even boasts that electricity here is “readily available and reliable” for big tech projectscapitolnewsillinois.com – though that might be a touch optimistic, given the careful planning required.

For homeowners, the key takeaways are: data centers will not steal your power or cause your lights to dim, but they do require utility build-out that you ultimately want the company (not the public) to pay for. Thus far, that’s been the case – data center operators typically fund the necessary grid interconnections and then buy electricity at commercial/industrial rates, which can actually help stabilize utility revenues. Naperville’s utility, for instance, could benefit from a steady high-volume customer contributing to fixed costs, potentially keeping rates lower for everyone. On the flip side, if multiple giant data centers connect without upgrades, there could be reliability issues. That’s exactly why Aurora hit “pause” – with five centers online and more coming, Aurora officials want to study long-term service and infrastructure costs before green-lighting further projectsdailyherald.com. Smaller towns like Geneva outright said they cannot host a large data center yet because their substations and feed lines would need major expansion firstdailyherald.com.

Finally, there’s an environmental angle to power usage: data centers use a lot of electricity, and if that power comes from fossil fuels, it means a lot of carbon emissions. The good news is Illinois’ grid is relatively green (ranked 6th-lowest in carbon intensity, thanks to nuclear and wind power)choosedupage.com. Moreover, companies like Karis are agreeing to purchase 100% renewable energy credits to offset their electric loaddailyherald.com, essentially matching their usage with green power generation. This doesn’t eliminate the local grid demand, but it does address the broader climate impact. So while a homeowner might worry “is this data center going to burn coal and pollute the air we breathe,” the reality is that our region’s electricity is getting cleaner, and large tech operators often have corporate mandates to use renewable energy. In summary, the power draw is huge – but it’s a solvable engineering challenge that, if managed correctly, shouldn’t negatively affect residential electricity service or bills.

Water Use and Cooling

Another frequent concern is water usage. Many data centers use water-based cooling systems (like cooling towers that evaporate water) to dump heat from servers. In arid regions, data centers have been criticized for consuming millions of gallons of water per day. In suburban Chicago, which draws water from Lake Michigan (a virtually abundant source), water use is less contentious – but it’s still been raised by officials and residents.

Naperville Councilman Patrick Kelly, for instance, highlighted data centers’ “significant demand for...water” during initial discussionsdailyherald.com. However, in the case of the Naperville project, the developer provided data showing the facility would use less water than the 600,000 sq. ft. office building it’s replacingdailyherald.comnapervilledatacenter.com. How can that be? Modern data centers often use high-efficiency cooling that minimizes water. Karis has stated that no potable water will be used for cooling – meaning they likely plan to use air-cooled chillers or a closed-loop system with refrigerantsnapervilledatacenter.com. Any water use would be for humidification and other ancillary needs, which are modest. By contrast, the old Lucent office complex had thousands of employees flushing toilets, an on-site cafeteria, landscape irrigation, etc., adding up to significant daily water consumption. So in this scenario, the data center isn’t the water hog some feared.

Of course, not all data centers eschew water. Some larger campuses in our region do have cooling towers. The key difference is that northeastern Illinois has a robust water supply and cooler climate, allowing data centers to use “free cooling” (outside air) much of the yearchoosedupage.com. In fact, Illinois actively pitches this climate advantage: during cold months, companies can pump outside air into the facility to chill servers, reducing both energy and water usagechoosedupage.com. For homeowners, this means the water impact of a nearby data center is likely negligible – certainly compared to, say, a large factory or a power plant. Your own lawn sprinkling in summer probably has more impact on the local water system than a modern data center’s cooling does.

That said, it’s wise for local utilities to plan capacity if multiple big data centers come online. They’ll need to ensure water pressure and supply are sufficient for any cooling needs and the on-site fire suppression systems (data centers have powerful sprinkler or clean-agent fire systems that must be ready in case of emergency). No one has suggested that data centers would lead to water rationing or anything of that sort in DuPage – we’re fortunate to have Lake Michigan water allocations. The more likely discussion is about who pays for any needed water main upgrades. As with electricity, towns usually require the developer to foot the bill for connecting to municipal water and sewer lines. Naperville indicated its ratepayers won’t subsidize any infrastructure for the data centernapervilledatacenter.com, which is as it should be.

One niche concern is water temperature discharge if a data center uses water cooling and releases warmed water into sewers or streams. There’s no indication of that here – most would evaporate water rather than dump it, and Naperville’s plan has no significant water discharge since it’s not using a once-through cooling system. The bottom line on water: in our area, it’s not the top issue. Noise and power are far bigger factors. Still, if you’re in a community worried about aquifer levels or have had summer watering bans, it’s fair to ask a data center applicant for their gallons-per-day estimate and what design choices they’ve made to conserve water.

Property Values and Neighborhood Character

Perhaps the toughest issue to pin down is how a nearby data center might affect home values. People understandably get nervous about any large industrial facility being built next to houses – will it make the neighborhood less desirable and therefore less valuable? The fear often centers on aesthetics (a big boxy building, fencing, maybe fewer trees), noise and traffic (we’ve covered noise; traffic from data centers is minimal, but construction traffic can be a temporary nuisance), and a general perception that a residential area is turning “industrial.”

Surprisingly, some studies suggest data centers have little to no negative impact on property values – and might even coincide with higher home values in certain areas. A 2025 analysis by George Mason University’s Center for Regional Analysis looked at thousands of home sales in Northern Virginia’s famous “Data Center Alley.” It found that homes closer to data centers actually sold for more than similar homes farther awayhousebeautiful.com. The researchers attributed this to the fact that data centers tend to be built in areas with strong infrastructure and job growth, which are appealing to buyers overall. In Loudoun County, VA, for example, data centers brought improved roads, better internet connectivity, and an influx of tech jobs – all of which boosted the local economy and housing demand, offsetting any visual negatives. Moreover, many of those data centers were in planned industrial parks not immediately abutting houses.

Of course, context is everything. In a master-planned community like New Albany, Ohio (which also hosts big data centers for Google, Meta, etc.), the presence of data centers has coincided with surging home demand and prices, with buyers drawn by the growing tech economyhousebeautiful.com. But in a quieter suburban subdivision, if you suddenly plop a data center on the next parcel, some buyers might be hesitant. Real estate agents say that houses directly adjacent to a data center or its new power substation may take longer to sell, simply because buyers have questions and may perceive a riskhousebeautiful.com. Meanwhile, homes just a few blocks away usually see no measurable effect; buyers are far more concerned with school quality, commute times, and the house itself than the presence of a data center down the roadhousebeautiful.com.

For DuPage homeowners, the good news is that developers and towns are trying to soften the appearance of these facilities when near residential areas. They use landscaping, berms, and thoughtful architectural design to make data centers look as “low impact” as possible. For example, the Karis Naperville design incorporates a Class A office-style façade with glass and sleek materials on the side facing the road, so it will resemble a modern office building at first glancedailyherald.com. Parking and loading docks are tucked away from view. Generators are behind berms. These measures ensure the site isn’t an eyesore that would drive people away. Additionally, towns often require setbacks and even transitional zoning – like retaining some commercial buffer between a data center and the nearest homes.

It’s also worth considering that data centers, once built, are quiet neighbors in terms of traffic and activity. Unlike a distribution warehouse or a mall, a finished data center has no rush hour, no stream of customer vehicles, no bright retail lights or signage. At night, they are mostly dark with minimal exterior lighting (for security). One could argue that living near a data center is preferable to living near a busy big-box store or factory. And if the data center replaced a blighted property, it might actually improve the look and feel of the area (after construction is done, of course).

Empirical evidence locally is still being gathered, but early indications show no property value crashes near these developments. In Elk Grove Village, for instance, homeowners who sold out to Stream Data Centers got top dollar for their properties – nearly $1 million each, well above pre-project market valuenetworkworld.comnetworkworld.com. While those homes were demolished (eliminating the question of post-project value), nearby neighborhoods that remain are now next to a high-end tech campus. There is little sign that those remaining residents are worse off financially; in fact, they benefited from infrastructure upgrades and may enjoy lower property tax pressure since the data centers contribute so much revenue.

The consensus of experts is that any property value impact is highly localized. As one broker put it, “For many homeowners, the impact is very small once the center is built, especially if there’s good buffering and you are not right next door”housebeautiful.com. The cases where people feel a negative impact are when a data center alters the landscape of a previously untouched area (e.g. clearing a forest for it) or when it’s poorly screened and essentially sitting in someone’s backyard. In DuPage County’s suburban context, most sites are in established commercial zones or along highways, which mitigates this. Still, if you’re considering selling or buying and there’s a data center nearby, it’s wise to note what stage it’s in (proposed, under construction, or operating), check if any issues have arisen (noise complaints, etc.), and highlight the positives (like improved infrastructure).

Other Quality-of-Life Factors

A few other points are often raised by residents:

• Traffic: Data centers generate far less traffic than almost any other commercial use of similar size. They have a relatively small staff (maybe 20–50 people on site per shift, plus occasional visits by client technicians). There are no daily freight truck convoys – just periodic deliveries of new equipment or fuel for generators. Naperville’s traffic analysis found that the data center would “generate less traffic” than the previous office building diddailyherald.com. Neighbors are unlikely to notice any difference on local roads once construction is complete. During construction, there will be trucks and crews, but that’s a temporary phase (and cities can limit construction hours/routes to reduce neighborhood disruption).

• Emissions and Environment: Apart from the grid electricity use (addressed above), data centers don’t produce on-site air pollution day-to-day. The diesel backup generators are the main source of emissions, and they run infrequently (typically tested for maybe 1–2 hours a month each). Even during tests, modern generators have emissions controls and must comply with EPA and Illinois EPA air quality permits. Some residents have mentioned concerns about diesel fumes and exhaust smell during generator runspatch.compatch.com. This can be a real issue if generators aren’t muffled or if dozens fire up at once (say, after a power outage). In Aurora’s case, the city noted diesel generators and HVAC chillers are the biggest noise and emission contributors and that needed to be manageddailyherald.comdailyherald.com. The industry is exploring cleaner backup solutions (like battery systems or natural gas turbines), but diesel gensets remain the norm for now due to their reliability. For a homeowner, the practical impact is occasional noise/smell if you live extremely close. It’s not continuous pollution like a factory smokestack – think of it more like the neighborhood having a periodic large generator test (akin to a hospital’s backup generator exercise). Still, it’s reasonable to ask that data centers schedule generator testing mid-day (not early morning or late evening) and possibly coordinate so not all units test at the same time.

• Visual and Lighting: Data centers are often big, bland boxes with few windows, surrounded by security fencing. They usually have some rooftop equipment (hard to fully hide behind parapets). At night, they may have security lighting, but typically it’s downcast and minimal – they don’t need floodlights like a sports field or parking lot might. From a residential perspective, the visual impact can be mitigated with landscaping. Municipal codes in DuPage require things like evergreen buffer yards when a commercial use abuts homes. So expect berms with trees that break up the view. Over time, as trees grow, a data center can be largely screened from sight. Some facilities even choose earth-tone exterior colors or decorative façades to be less of an eyesore. For example, the rendering of the Itasca NTT data center shows a stylish modern facade with the company logo – it looks more like a research lab than a warehousechoosedupage.com. Communities can also regulate signage (usually these centers have none or just a small placard, since they don’t need to attract public customers).

• Security and Privacy: Data centers are secure facilities – they often have perimeter fences, cameras, and 24/7 security personnel. This can actually increase safety in an area, as there are more “eyes on the street” (or at least on the property). There’s no evidence that having a data center brings any crime risk; if anything, they deter loitering. One could joke that the biggest security concern is if someone mistakes it for a secret government bunker – but rest assured, these are private businesses with nothing explosive or toxic inside, just computers. They also do not house any residential population, so there’s no social impact (no new neighbors, for better or worse).

• Wildlife and Environment: Some residents in Naperville pointed out that the site is near forest preserves and were worried the constant hum and heat could affect wildlifeltdo.org. There hasn’t been specific study on data center noise and wildlife in our area. The ambient noise near highways is probably already a factor. The data center will have to manage stormwater runoff (with retention ponds, etc.) just like any development – in fact, DuPage County has strict stormwater ordinances. On the bright side, replacing an old industrial site with a new build can allow for more green space on the parcel. For instance, Karis plans to landscape the Naperville property extensively, and only ~25% of the land will have buildings (they note the campus will “occupy 65% less space” than the previous office complex, leaving more open area)dailyherald.com. Many data centers also pursue environmental certifications (LEED certification was promised for Naperville’s design)napervilledatacenter.com to ensure energy efficiency and sustainable practices. So, while any large construction has environmental impacts (noise, dust during construction, resource use), the operational phase of a data center is pretty benign on the local environment – no ongoing emissions, minimal water discharge, etc.

Finding the Balance: Economic Benefits vs. Quality of Life

For suburban homeowners in DuPage County, the rise of data centers nearby can feel like a double-edged sword. On one side, these projects bring economic development, repurpose vacant land, and can even improve infrastructure in your community. They contribute tax revenue that supports schools and services, potentially easing the tax burden on residents. They signal growth in the modern tech economy, which can bolster local pride and future opportunities. And compared to many other commercial or industrial uses, a well-run data center can truly be a quiet neighbor – low traffic, no noxious emissions, and operation largely in the background of daily life.

On the other side, residents are right to scrutinize such proposals to ensure proper safeguards. The experiences in Aurora and elsewhere show that concerns about noise or other impacts are not just NIMBYism; they need to be addressed with concrete measures. The good news is that DuPage County municipalities (and the companies building data centers) appear to be learning and adapting. Aurora’s temporary ban on new data centers is giving it time to adopt stricter zoning standards – for example, requiring conditional use permits (with public hearings) rather than treating data centers as-of-right “warehouses”dailyherald.com. Naperville proactively did this in 2023, amending its zoning code so that any data center must get special approval with conditionsdailyherald.com. This gives the city leverage to negotiate things like sound mitigation, aesthetics, and utility cost-sharing, as we’ve seen in the Karis case.

For homeowners, a few practical tips if a data center is proposed near you:

• Stay Informed and Engage: Check city council and plan commission agendas. In Naperville and Lisle, many residents turned up to speak or submitted comments – and this input led to improvements (e.g., downsizing from two buildings to one in Napervilledailyherald.com, and commitments on renewable energy and noise). By engaging constructively, you can help shape the project. Also, misinformation can spread on social media; try to get facts from official sources or meetings. For instance, a rumor that a data center would “take part of Herrick Lake Forest Preserve” turned out false – the site was adjacent, not on preserve landreddit.com.

• Demand Accountability: It’s reasonable to ask the developer and city for specific, enforceable commitments: noise level guarantees (with post-construction sound testing), a schedule for generator tests that’s least disruptive, landscape plans that create year-round buffers, and infrastructure agreements so taxpayers aren’t left footing any bills. Naperville included many of these in its deliberations – even questioning who will supply the extra power and making sure the data center pays for grid upgradesdailyherald.comdailyherald.com. These details can be written into the approval ordinance.

• Consider the Big Picture: While it’s natural to focus on local negatives, also weigh the big-picture benefits. A new data center might prevent that vacant lot from becoming something worse (like a high-traffic trucking depot or dense housing that really strains local schools). It can also improve your internet connectivity or stability – data centers attract fiber-optic networks, which might mean better broadband options for nearby homes. And if it boosts the tax base, that can support property values in the long run by keeping the area desirable and well-funded. In many cases around the country, data centers have not hampered home sales – some areas even advertise proximity to high-tech centers as a selling point. A study in Virginia found no statistical evidence that data centers hurt housing prices; if anything, prices were slightly higher near themfxbgadvance.com. This suggests that the dreaded impacts either didn’t materialize or were offset by other advantageshousebeautiful.com.

At the end of the day, data centers are part of the infrastructure of our digital lives – they’re the reason we can stream movies, back up photos to the cloud, and have reliable internet services. The demand for data (especially with trends like AI and cloud computing) is exploding, and these facilities have to go somewhere. DuPage County, with its central location, skilled workforce, and newly minted tax incentives, has become an attractive “Goldilocks zone” for data centers (not too hot, not disaster-prone, with abundant power and fiber)choosedupage.comchoosedupage.com. Local governments want a piece of that pie, but they also serve the residents who live here. The task is to find a balance, ensuring that data centers are built in appropriate locations and with proper design so that they coexist peacefully with residential neighbors.

Thus far, the trend in DuPage and nearby suburbs shows a balanced approach is achievable. As Geneva’s Mayor Kevin Burns aptly summarized, “data centers require enormous amounts of energy and sometimes water, which stress existing resources… On the other hand, they bring revenue and capacity to communities”. The goal, he says, is to put proper guardrails in place and learn from each other’s experiencesdailyherald.comdailyherald.com. This homeowner-focused overview should help demystify what these projects mean for our communities. Whether you ultimately support or oppose a given data center proposal, knowing the facts and context will help you advocate for your interests effectively.

Sources:

1. Choose DuPage Economic Development Alliance – Data Centers Overview & Industry Strengthschoosedupage.comchoosedupage.com

2. Daily Herald (Nov. 20, 2025) – Naperville Plan Commission Endorses Data Center (Neighbor Objections)dailyherald.comdailyherald.com

3. Daily Herald (Aug. 5, 2025) – Data center could land at former Alcatel-Lucent site in Napervilledailyherald.comdailyherald.com

4. Naperville Data Center (Karis) – Project Fact Sheet and Stewardship Pledgenapervilledatacenter.comnapervilledatacenter.com

5. Daily Herald (Oct. 25, 2025) – Aurora adopts data center moratorium; regional concernsdailyherald.comdailyherald.com

6. Network World (Mar. 21, 2024) – Data center provider razes 55 homes for Illinois campus (Elk Grove)networkworld.comnetworkworld.com

7. Capitol News Illinois (Oct. 2, 2024) – Pritzker touts data center boom, state incentivescapitolnewsillinois.comcapitolnewsillinois.com

8. Choose DuPage Blog (Mar. 6, 2025) – Creative Solutions to Data Center Demand in DuPagechoosedupage.comchoosedupage.com

9. Stream Data Centers Press Release (Sep. 2025) – New ComEd substation for Elk Grove data center campusstreamdatacenters.comstreamdatacenters.com

10. House Beautiful (Oct. 2025) – Real Estate Experts on Data Centers and Home Valueshousebeautiful.comhousebeautiful.com

11. UChicago/Tribune (Nov. 18, 2025) – Experts explain impact of data centers (Naperville Sun)climate.uchicago.educlimate.uchicago.edu

12. NCTV17 (Naperville TV) – Residents sound off at council meeting on proposed data centerscribd.com (local testimony about concerns)