Cloud HQ to Spend $3 Million on Extras in Chicago-Area Deal

Mount Prospect is poised to lock in a multimillion-dollar infrastructure sweetener as it irons out the details for one of the region’s biggest data center plays.

Village trustees on Tuesday are expected to approve an agreement with

Cloud HQ is near an agreement with Village trustees that would funnel $3 million from the developer into public improvements tied to its $2.5 billion campus, the Daily Herald reported.

Under the deal, Cloud HQ will chip in $1 million for upgrades along Algonquin Road — a key stretch bordering the former United Airlines headquarters site, where the developer plans two massive server halls. The money would cover a shared-use path, new street lighting and upgraded crosswalks and signals at Algonquin and Linneman roads, according to village documents.

Another $2 million would go to the Mount Prospect Park District for recreational upgrades, anchored by a new splash pad at the RecPlex. The contribution gives the village a visible, near-term community benefit as it greenlights a project designed to churn out substantial tax revenues for decades.

The agreement follows trustees’ approval last month of revisions to Cloud HQ’s site plan. What was once a three-building campus approved in 2022 has been reworked into two larger structures. The shift streamlines construction and maintains the project’s revenue potential, village staff say.

Once both buildings are running, officials estimate the campus will generate more than $7 million a year in electricity tax revenue alone — a lucrative line item for municipalities courting data center operators.

The data center is also expected to be a major engine for Mount Prospect’s tax increment financing district, with staff projecting more than $100 million in future TIF revenue. That pool would give the village ample room to fund infrastructure upgrades and redevelopment efforts in its long-overlooked southern corridor.

Cloud HQ aims to deliver its first building in 2027, with the second slated for late 2030. Construction would reactivate a site that has sat largely dormant since United decamped, a point Mayor Paul Hoefert leaned on in voicing support for the deal at a board meeting last month. He called the project’s long-term financial impact “huge” and said it could help the village avoid raising property taxes.

— Eric Weilbacher