On Monday, the DeKalb City Council is expected to vote on a proposed 560-acre data center development by Edged, a division of infrastructure technology company Endeavour Energy.

If approved, the build, also called Project Vector, could take years. City officials have previously touted the proposal as significant for the area, pointing to the potential for increased property tax revenue, job creation, and industry development. Some residents have voiced concerns, including about environmental and farmland impact and noise pollution.

Here’s what we know so far:

Where would it go?

If approved, the data center campus would be built just south of Meta’s DeKalb Data Center, with fewer buildings but on more land. Edged would have four data center campus buildings and two electrical substations, on about 560 acres of land on both east and west sides of Illinois State Route 23, north of Keslinger Road and west of Crego Road, records show.

Who owns the land now?

Most of the land is owned by JJK 343 LLC, which also does business as ChicagoWest Business Center, according to DeKalb County property records. Much of the land was purchased as recently as Sept. 9 for millions of dollars. ChicagoWest is the petitioner behind Project Vector, asking for city permission to annex, rezone, and develop the land for Endeavour Energy.

The land is currently in unincorporated DeKalb County.

Who would use the data center?

If approved, Endeavour Energy – which also has a data center in Aurora – plans to rent out its data center servers to another technology user.

The identity of that company isn’t known to the public as of Monday.

What would the infrastructure look like?

According to Endeavour, the data center would stray from technology more commonly used in other builds. Instead of using water to chill its 24/7 massive server computers, Edged has proposed technology that cools the servers using air.

The waterless chillers would be powered by low-emission generators run by natural gas instead of diesel engines, which also emit less noticeable sound, according to the city.

Servers and the components needed to maintain them are stored in racks in the buildings to optimize space, according to a city outline of the build.

Private, paved roads would provide access to Crego and Keslinger roads from the site, and Illinois Route 23. Stormwater and landscaping plans fall within city code standards, according to the proposal.

The buildings would be between 25 and 35 feet tall. Exterior and parking lot lighting would be shielded by shades, according to the city.

What’s the timeline?

According to preliminary plans, the four-building 3 million-square-foot megasite isn’t projected to be fully built out until 2032, documents show.

An estimated timeline shows the first building, at 980,000 square feet, would be built by the end of 2027. The second, at 515,000 square feet, by 2028, the third, at 980,000 square feet by 2030, and the fourth, 490,000 square feet, by 2032.

How would this impact taxes?

The land that Project Vector would occupy qualifies for tax incentives identical to those approved for Meta’s data center in 2020, documents show.

That’s provided Edged invests at a minimum $800 million with 900 square feet of building space with at least 50 full-time jobs, according to the city. If those stipulations were met, Edged would qualify for a 55% property tax abatement for the first 20 years of operation. The project also would qualify for a state-level sales tax exemption associated with building materials, documents show. And Edged would pay half of its DeKalb electricity tax after the first full calendar year, effective for 20 years after.

City officials have touted data center property tax revenue as substantial despite the decades-long tax incentives, however.

Since 2022, Meta has paid more than $46.3 million in property taxes to DeKalb city taxing bodies, records show. That includes about $3.8 million to the city, $4.6 million to the county, and about $28.6 million to DeKalb School District 428.

What are people saying about it?

A public hearing on Dec. 1 brought dozens of DeKalb residents to a standing-room-only meeting.

Both opposition and support were voiced during the public comment period.

Read more here.

Some concerns voiced include possible effect on area farmland longevity, environmental impact, and noise pollution. Supporters have said the build would bring significant tax revenue and regular union job creation, especially during construction.

An online petition against the data center has collected more than 650 signatures as of 1:30 p.m. Monday.

What are city officials saying about it?

The City Council has not yet weighed in publicly on the development.

But some city staff, Endeavour representatives, and the developer have expressed their views already.

Many have said they believe Edged’s data center design is mindful of environmental and local impact. City staff are recommending that the Council approve the petition.

Read more here.