Karis Critical · Hoffman Estates data center, Hoffman Estates, Illinois

Karis Critical withdrew its request to rezone the 186-acre Plum Farms property at Higgins Road and Route 59 in Hoffman Estates, Cook County, Illinois, for a data center on July 1, 2026, notifying the village after community backlash, and the Village Board's scheduled vote was called off. "We heard the feedback clearly, including the call for a more specific plan before any rezoning," Karis spokesman Patrick Skarr said, adding that any future proposal would come with the details the village and community need.

Karis bought the land, the former Plum Farms site at the northwest corner of Route 59 and Higgins Road, for $45 million in early 2025; it had earlier been planned for more than 1,000 homes and commercial space. The request, filed through H.E. Holdings LLC, which Karis advises, sought to change the zoning from commercial mixed-use and traditional neighborhood to manufacturing, and residents were told there was no specific site plan.

The site sits on the edge of the village, bordering South Barrington and Barrington Hills, which have no official say in Hoffman Estates' decisions. Residents packed a three-hour Plan Commission hearing on June 3, and the commission voted 4-2 to recommend against the rezoning, raising traffic, noise, light, air quality and water use, and the lack of any studies.

"Nobody here is saying, 'Don't do a data center,' everyone's saying, 'Don't do it here,'" Barrington Hills resident Karen Trzaska said. Records obtained by opponents showed village staff talking with Karis about a data center some 18 months earlier, including a comfort letter Village Manager Eric Palm signed the day before Karis bought the land, pledging that staff would support "necessary zoning and development approvals for a data center project."

"It just seems like we're doing all this for just for political theater," said Amanda Pollard of Barrington Hills, who organized neighbors and filed an Open Meetings Act complaint with the Illinois Attorney General's office. Mayor William McLeod said it is normal for staff to work with developers for months before projects reach the board, and that "just because the staff or the village manager express support for a development that does not mean the village Board will approve the development."

Hoffman Estates already has two other data centers under construction in areas zoned for manufacturing, and Microsoft is developing two more nearby. Karis Critical had a similar data center plan turned down by Naperville's City Council in January 2026.

With the request withdrawn, any new plan for the land would go back to the Hoffman Estates Plan Commission and then to the Village Board, which makes the decision. State Sen. Darby Hills of Barrington Hills has introduced Senate Bill 1050, which would bar data centers within 3 miles of another municipality's boundary without its written consent, and said it could move in the fall veto session. Gov. JB Pritzker paused state tax incentives for new data centers from July 1, 2026 and asked lawmakers to pass reforms in that session.