Pulte Homes Plans Project in Naperville Outside Chicago

A suburban Chicago site once pitched for a data center could instead bring hundreds of Pulte homes to Naperville’s tech corridor.

Nearly two months after city leaders shot down a controversial data center proposal near the eastern gateway to the I-88 corridor, the property owner is floating a residential redevelopment for the same land. The Daily Herald reported that the concept calls for more than 260 townhomes and rowhouses just south of Nokia’s campus along Lucent Lane.

The Naperville City Council voted in January to reject the data center plan from Karis Critical, following months of pushback from nearby homeowners. Residents worried about noise, power consumption and diesel generator emissions at a site surrounded by established neighborhoods.

Now the owner, Franklin 1960 Lucent Lane LLC, is seeking informal feedback from the council on the housing concept before formally pursuing approvals, according to the publication. The firm partnered with Atlanta-based national homebuilder Pulte Homes on the potential development and is asking city officials to weigh in on rezoning the property. Franklin hopes to get council guidance from their Wednesday meeting.

The pivot comes after city leaders repeatedly emphasized that the land is designated for “medium-density residential” in Naperville’s comprehensive land use plan, according to the publication. In a letter to Mayor Scott Wehrli and council members, attorney Peter Friedman, who represents the ownership group, said the company took those signals seriously.

“As disappointed as we were with the Council’s decision on the data center proposal, we took to heart the Council’s and residents’ sentiments and immediately refocused our efforts on a residential proposal that responded directly to that feedback,” Friedman wrote.

Nokia sold the property for just under $4.8 million to Franklin in 2023. The new concept would include a homeowners association and a new public road along the north end of the site separating the development from Nokia’s campus.

City staff reviewing the early proposal have already suggested tweaks. Naperville’s Transportation, Engineering and Development Department said some building and site design changes could help the project better fit the office-heavy character of the I-88 corridor.

One idea floated in a staff memo would be to place an apartment building at the prominent corner of Warrenville Road and Lucent Lane, which officials said would better complement the office corridor than townhomes facing the roadway.

— Eric Weilbacher