Karis Critical Data Center, DeKalb, Illinois

Karis Acquisitions asked DeKalb in July 2024 to allow a seven building data center campus on 132 acres at the northeast corner of Peace and Gurler roads, which would be the city's second after Meta's. The City of DeKalb's development list records a planning and zoning recommendation on July 15, 2024, and council approval on July 22, 2024, for an amendment allowing a 1,750,000 square foot data center in seven buildings, filed by Steven Goldin and Karis Acquisitions.

Jake Finley presented the petition for Karis, which also sought a 17.5 acre ComEd substation; city staff and Jerry Krusinski, manager of the neighboring ChicagoWest Business Center, wanted it moved from the corner to a screened spot inside the site. It ended up at the southeast corner, which officials said would keep "a nice campus look" for drivers heading south on Peace Road.

David Dicks, vice president of development for Karis Acquisitions, said traffic would mainly be employees' vehicles and that "The impacts were very, very minimal," and the company projected 75 to 100 jobs per building. Roy Jones of Earlville questioned whether the plan met "best practices in land management stewardship" and warned against leasing resources to "out-of-state entities at a flat rate."

At the council, former city clerk Lynn Fazekas urged the city to protect its water supply first: "Meta's only been operational for less than a year." Deborah Ridder asked about landscaping and fencing and objected to losing farmland. City manager Bill Nicklas answered that a data center brings far less truck traffic than a warehouse, and pointed to a 300 foot setback from Gurler Road, a detention basin and landscaped berms.

The land had been annexed and zoned for planned industrial development in 2023; the council's vote added data centers as a permitted use and raised the allowed floor area, and a separate vote on the development itself is still needed before construction.

The city's March 2026 development list gives no construction dates for the Karis project, while other projects on it carry grading and building years. Karis's own website now markets a 250 acre DeKalb site next to Meta's campus as shovel ready and available for sale or joint venture, with power details offered only to qualified parties.