In the high-stakes world where industrial real estate collides with the insatiable demand for digital infrastructure, few understand the landscape better than Dominic Jainy. With a career dedicated to navigating the complex development of data centers, he has seen firsthand how these critical facilities are reshaping communities and economies. Today, we delve into the intricacies of this booming sector, using the proposed 13-building Prologis campus in Shelbyville, Illinois, as a lens to explore the crucial balance between power availability, community engagement, land-use transformation, and sustainable design. We will discuss what makes a rural site suddenly invaluable, how to address local concerns, and where the industry is headed next.
The Shelbyville site is described as “ideal” partly due to two existing Duke Energy transmission lines. Could you describe the step-by-step process of evaluating a site’s power capacity and infrastructure, and what makes a location like this more attractive than one requiring new transmission builds?
Finding a site with robust, existing power infrastructure feels like striking gold. The evaluation process is meticulous. First, we identify potential land parcels, and the absolute initial screen is for high-voltage transmission lines. When we saw the two Duke Energy lines already crossing the Shelbyville property, it immediately vaulted to the top of our list. The next step is to engage the utility provider to conduct a feasibility study, which confirms the actual available capacity and the cost to tap into it. This is a critical step. A location like this is infinitely more attractive because building new transmission lines is a monumental undertaking. You’re talking about a multi-year process involving complex engineering, navigating right-of-way acquisitions from countless landowners, and a labyrinth of federal and state permits. That can add years and tens of millions of dollars to a project, so finding a site where the power is essentially ready to go de-risks the entire development and dramatically shortens the timeline to market.
Considering the local petition with over 2,100 signatures, how does Prologis typically navigate community opposition? Please elaborate on specific outreach strategies or community investment metrics you use to address concerns about preserving a town’s character while creating jobs and infrastructure.
When you see a petition with over 2,100 signatures, you have to stop and listen. That isn’t just a hurdle to overcome; it’s a clear message that the community feels its identity is at stake. Our first move is never to double down on our talking points, but to open genuine lines of communication. This means holding open-house meetings, going door-to-door, and sitting down with local leaders to understand the root of their concerns. Are they worried about noise, water usage, traffic, or the visual impact? We then address those fears with concrete data and commitments. For example, by highlighting our use of closed-loop cooling to minimize water impact, we can directly counter specific environmental worries. The goal is to show, not just tell, that we are invested in being a “responsible, long-term partner.” It’s about demonstrating how the economic benefits can coexist with, and even enhance, the town’s cherished character rather than erasing it.
This project requires rezoning 429 acres from residential and agricultural to industrial. Beyond the plan commission and city council meetings, what are the key steps and potential hurdles involved in such a large-scale land-use transformation, especially when annexing land into city limits?
Rezoning a parcel of this magnitude, nearly 430 acres, is a marathon of due diligence. The public meetings are just the tip of the iceberg. Before we even get to that stage, we’re deep in the weeds with a host of consultants conducting environmental impact studies, traffic analyses, and detailed utility capacity reports. We have to prove that the existing infrastructure can handle the new load or present a clear plan for upgrading it. The annexation process adds another layer of complexity, as it involves literally redrawing the city’s boundaries and ensuring the plan aligns with long-term municipal goals, something Mayor Furgeson noted was important. A major hurdle is always the unknown. You might uncover an unforeseen ecological issue or a previously unknown archeological site that can delay the project indefinitely. It requires a patient, collaborative approach with city staff to navigate these challenges and ensure the transformation is both legally sound and beneficial for the community’s future.
The article mentions using closed-loop cooling to reduce water usage. Can you walk us through the operational difference this makes for a 13-building campus and share some other key sustainability metrics Prologis tracks to be a “responsible, long-term partner” in a new community?
Think of closed-loop cooling as a data center’s radiator. It uses a contained loop of chilled water or fluid to absorb heat from the servers and then dissipates that heat, all without constantly drawing massive volumes of fresh water from local sources. For a 13-building campus, this is a game-changer. Instead of consuming millions of gallons of water per day, which would strain local resources, we are simply recycling and reusing the same water. This is one of the most important sustainability commitments we can make to a community, especially in agricultural areas. Beyond water, we meticulously track our Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE), carbon emissions, and the percentage of renewable energy used to power our facilities. We also focus on waste diversion during construction and ensuring our landscaping and site design are environmentally sensitive. These aren’t just buzzwords; they are hard metrics we hold ourselves to, because being a responsible partner means proving our value beyond just job creation.
Prologis has a massive 1.4GW of secured power in its pipeline and projects from Illinois to Paris, yet it backed away from a development in Indiana. What specific market factors or site characteristics make a location like Shelbyville a priority over another in the Midwest?
It’s a multi-faceted decision matrix, and every site is unique. A location like Shelbyville becomes a priority when several key factors align perfectly. First and foremost is the power—having 1.4GW secured in our pipeline means we have options, and we prioritize sites where that power is readily and economically accessible, like here with the Duke Energy lines. Second is the local partnership; having a city government that sees the project as aligned with their long-term goals, as is the case in Shelbyville, is critical. A project might be deprioritized, as the one in Indiana was, if a critical variable changes. Perhaps the utility’s timeline for delivering power slips, the permitting process becomes unexpectedly contentious, or the overall cost of development no longer meets our economic model. We have to be agile and focus our resources on sites that present the clearest and most efficient path to becoming operational.
What is your forecast for large-scale data center development in secondary, more rural markets like central Illinois over the next five years?
I foresee explosive growth in these markets. The primary data center hubs like Northern Virginia and Silicon Valley are facing significant constraints—a lack of available land, skyrocketing power costs, and congested power grids. This is forcing developers to look for new frontiers, and markets like central Illinois are perfectly positioned. They offer what the primary markets no longer can: vast tracts of available land, often with pre-existing industrial infrastructure and robust power grids. While navigating community engagement, as we’re seeing with the petition in Shelbyville, will be a crucial challenge, the fundamental drivers are too strong to ignore. Over the next five years, I expect a significant wave of large-scale, multi-building campus developments to break ground in these secondary markets, transforming them into the next critical nodes of our global digital infrastructure.