Karis Critical Taking aim at Former BP Campus in Naperville

Karis Critical is taking another crack at developing in Naperville following a rejection of its data center proposal six months ago.

What, exactly, the new proposal will entail is up in the air, according to the Daily Herald. A Karis spokesperson confirmed to the outlet that they had a meeting last month with the Naperville Development Partnership about the former BP campus at 150 West Warrenville Road and its future. A memo, cited by the publication, says that an advanced manufacturing facility was one of the options discussed by the two sides. Naperville Mayor Scott Wehrli was also in attendance at the meeting, according to the outlet.

During this go-around, Naples, Florida-based Karis stresses that the firm doesn’t yet have a formal plan for the sprawling, 169-acre, eight-years vacant property. Wehrli told the outlet that during the meeting, he informed Karis that a data center would be a tough sell to Naperville locals.

Karis didn’t really need that warning. In January, Naperville rejected their data center proposal after months of organized opposition from residents who were concerned about noise pollution, residential development and local power infrastructure. The rejection came after Karis downscaled its proposal significantly, including reduced power usage and a smaller number of diesel generators. The haircut did little to assuage community concerns.

Around 30 miles away in Hoffman Estates, a rezoning request for land Karis owned was not recommended by village planning commissioners, because of the mere possibility that it could become a data center. The request in Hoffman Estates suggested that the land should be rezoned to hold manufacturing buildings and other industrial pursuits.

Despite the setback, there’s a serious opportunity for Karis with the former BP campus, and they appear willing to craft a serious proposal to match, according to the publication. City officials involved with the meeting told the outlet that Karis indicated they would be willing to shell out to clean up the site.

Naperville has struggled in attracting attention to the site. In the last year, only three developers contacted the city about the BP campus, and none of them submitted plans for a review.

— Hunter Cooke