The $1bn+ Pekin data center proposal in Illinois has officially been withdrawn by developer West Hospitality Partners. The firm also requested the return of its $85,000 deposit. The withdrawal comes following strong opposition from local residents, which influenced the city’s decision. Earlier this week, Pekin Mayor Mary Burress read a letter from the law firm Patzik, Frank & Samotny Ltd. on behalf of Western Hospitality Partners.

The letter announced the withdrawal of the offer to build the data center and requested that the city return its $85,000 deposit associated with the project. “This is a clean break,” city attorney James Vasselli said. “This contract is over. It’s terminated. It’s done. We have to return the earnest money.”

The data center proposal had been met with strong opposition from Pekin residents, which played a role in the city’s ultimate decision not to pursue the project. “We do appreciate all of you coming forward,” Burress said. “We might not have acted like we did because it’s hard to take criticism day after day after day. However we were put in this position to listen and try to make the best decision we can.” The rampant development of data centers in Illinois is also being witnessed in the neighboring state of Kentucky as the $14bn TeraWulf data center makes advancements. However, like the Pekin campus, it is also facing significant opposition.

Outlook on the Pekin Data Center in Illinois

The Pekin data center campus in Illinois is not the only data center to be ultimately rejected in a community. West Hospitality also last March, pulled back a proposed multibillion-dollar data center project in Kentucky. This was after the proposal met fierce community opposition that included a 150-day Oldham County Fiscal Court moratorium on all data center applications.

Opposition to the Pekin proposed campus has been fierce ever since it was announced. Concerns were expressed about the data center’s impact on the local environment and also its energy and water usage. An opposition group, Tazewell County Data Center Opposition, currently had more than 5,000 members on Facebook. The same group also had more than 2,000 members just two months ago.

It also brought a petition against the development to city officials during a meeting in late January. Few details about the company are available, but Western Hospitality Partners is a New York based developer that has previously been linked to several data center projects across Kentucky, Indiana, and Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, it faced delays and pushback against several of its proposed developments.

Project Factsheet:

• Project Name: Pekin Data Center Proposal
• Location: Pekin, Illinois, USA
• Estimated Investment Value: $1 Billion+
• Project Type: Hyperscale Data Center Campus

Timeline

• Initial Proposal Phase: Announced prior to 2026
• January 2026: Public opposition petitions submitted to city officials
• 2026: Proposal officially withdrawn by developer
• 2026: City confirms termination of project agreement and return of deposit

Site & Scale

• Proposed Development Type: Large-scale data center campus
• Location Context: Pekin, Tazewell County, Illinois
• Estimated Investment: More than $1 billion
• Community Opposition Group: Tazewell County Data Center Opposition (>5,000 members)

Project Teams

• Developer: West Hospitality Partners
• Legal Representative: Patzik, Frank & Samotny Ltd.
• Local Authority: City of Pekin
• Mayor: Mary Burress
• City Attorney: James Vasselli

Infrastructure Scope

• Proposed hyperscale data center development
• Also large-scale digital infrastructure and server operations
• Associated utility and power infrastructure requirements
• Potential high-capacity water and also energy consumption systems

Strategic Objectives

• Expand regional digital infrastructure capacity
• Also support growing data center demand in the Midwest
• Attract large-scale private investment into Pekin
• Create economic development opportunities and jobs

Challenges

• Strong community opposition
• Also concerns over environmental impacts
• Concerns regarding water consumption and energy demand
• Public scrutiny over transparency and also project planning

Current Status

• Project officially withdrawn by West Hospitality Partners
• City agreement terminated
• $85,000 deposit requested for return by developer
• However, no active development plans currently moving forward in Pekin