Industrial real estate giant Prologis is planning a massive 13-building data center campus in Shelbyville, Illinois. The client company is filing to develop the company in the city located in central Illinois. Lorm LLC and Alisha Clay are seeking to annex more than a dozen land parcels totaling 429 acres off of East State Road 44 east of the SR 44 and I-74 interchange.

Afterwards, they will combine them with previously-annexed land for a total of 576 acres for the data center. The land is currently zoned Agricultural or Single-Family Residential and would be annexed into city limits and rezoned General Industrial. Scope of implementation on the data center would total up to 13 buildings according to Prologis.

However, no end user has been secured for the site. Shelbyville is a city in and the county seat of Shelby County in central Illinois, approximately 200 miles south of Chicago. Furthermore, it is 100 miles northeast of St. Louis and 150 miles west of Indianapolis.

“We see an opportunity to use existing industrial land and infrastructure to support Shelbyville’s future,” noted JC Witt, Prologis SVP of data center investments. “Our focus is on job creation and being a responsible, long-term partner,” he added. Data centers such as the QTS data center projects in Wisconsin are springing up across the US as companies aim to leverage AI.

Scope

The Prologis data center campus in Illinois would reportedly use closed-loop cooling to reduce water usage. In documents, city staff were in favor of the move and said the site was ideal for industrial development. Some of the reasons include its location and existing electrical infrastructure, with two Duke Energy transmission lines through the site.

Mayor Scott Furgeson also noted the proposal aligns with the city’s long-term development goals. Shelbyville is focused on growing in a way that makes sense for our community over the long term,” Furgeson noted. The Shelbyville plan commission and city council are due to discuss the project at meetings this week.

The project, however, is set to face opposition from local residents. 3,067 people had signed a Change.org petition against the development at the time of writing.

Reasons for Opposition on Prologis Data Center Campus in Illinois

Most of those who oppose the Prologis data center campus in Illinois feel that the project leans towards altruistic motives. They note that the initiative prioritizes economic gains over the health and safety of the residents in Shelbyville.

Moreover, they note that the transformation of the land for commercial and industrial use does not reflect the voice and interests of Shelbyville residents. Logistics and industrial real estate giant Prologis began expanding further into the data center sector in recent years. Many of the company’s data center developments to date have been focused on building out existing landholdings.

However, the firm has been acquiring greenfield sites as well. Prologis currently has 1.4GW of secured power for data centers in its pipeline, with another 1.6GW “in the advanced stages of procurement,” the company has previously said. It also claims it has another 1.5GW in the planning stage, and is targeting up to 10GW of capacity in the next ten years. In Illinois, the company has been targeting a 540-acre campus in Yorkville that could total 24 buildings

Project Factsheet

Prologis Data Center Campus in Illinois, USA

Project Overview

Project Name: Prologis Shelbyville Data Center Campus
Developer: Prologis
Project Type: Hyperscale / Large-scale Data Center Campus
Status: Proposed / Under review
End User: Not disclosed (no end user secured)

Location

City: Shelbyville
County: Shelby County
State: Illinois, USA
Site Location: East State Road 44, east of the SR 44 and I-74 interchange

Regional Proximity:

• 200 miles south of Chicago
• 100 miles northeast of St. Louis
• 150 miles west of Indianapolis

Site Details

Total Site Area: 576 acres

• 429 acres across more than a dozen land parcels currently proposed for annexation
• Combined with previously annexed land

Current Zoning:

• Agricultural
• Single-Family Residential

Proposed Zoning:

• General Industrial (following annexation into city limits)

Development Scope

Total Buildings: Up to 13 data center buildings
Campus Type: Multi-building data center campus
Development Phasing: Not disclosed

Cooling Strategy:

• Closed-loop cooling system to reduce water consumption

Power & Infrastructure:

• Two Duke Energy transmission lines pass through the site
• Existing electrical infrastructure cited as a key site advantage

Regulatory & Planning Status

Annexation Applicants: Lorm LLC and Alisha Clay
Municipal Review:

• Shelbyville Plan Commission (pending discussion)
• Shelbyville City Council (pending discussion)

City Staff Position:

• Supportive
• Site described as “ideal for industrial development” due to location and infrastructure

Stakeholder Statements

JC Witt, SVP – Data Center Investments, Prologis:

“We see an opportunity to use existing industrial land and infrastructure to support Shelbyville’s future. Our focus is on job creation and being a responsible, long-term partner.”

Mayor Scott Furgeson, City of Shelbyville:

The proposal aligns with Shelbyville’s long-term development goals and its approach to sustainable growth.

Community Response

Public Opposition:

• 3,067 signatures on a Change.org petition at time of writing

Key Concerns Raised:

• Perceived prioritization of economic gains over health and safety
• Loss of agricultural and residential land
• Insufficient reflection of community interests and local character