According to DCD, industrial real estate giant Prologis is planning a massive new data center development in Shelbyville, Illinois. The company, through entities Lorm LLC and Alisha Clay, is filing to annex 429 acres of farmland and residential land, combining it with other parcels for a total 576-acre campus. The plan calls for up to 13 buildings on the site, which currently lacks an end user. City staff support the move, citing ideal industrial conditions and existing Duke Energy transmission lines, but over 2,100 residents have signed a petition against it. The Shelbyville plan commission and city council are set to discuss the project this week.
The Industrial Landlord’s Big Bet
Here’s the thing about Prologis: they’re not a data center company. They’re the world’s biggest industrial landlord, the folks who own the warehouses where your Amazon packages get sorted. But they’ve decided that the future isn’t just boxes—it’s bits. They’re going all-in, with a target of 10GW of data center capacity in a decade. This Shelbyville play is a classic example of their strategy: take land they understand (or can easily acquire), often near major logistics corridors and power infrastructure, and repurpose it for the digital economy. It’s a huge, capital-intensive bet that the AI boom needs not just chips, but also vast, power-hungry buildings in places you might not expect.
Small Town, Big Tension
Now, the local opposition isn’t surprising, but it’s a major hurdle. Over 2,100 signatures on a petition for a town of about 4,700 people? That’s significant. The petition hits on the classic conflict: a city government sees “job creation” and long-term tax base, while residents see their “city’s present charm” threatened by an unknown, industrial-scale operation. Prologis promises closed-loop cooling and being a “responsible partner,” but let’s be real—a 13-building data center campus is a transformative project. It changes the character of a place forever. The city staff says the land is “ideal for industrial development,” but that’s exactly what the neighbors are afraid of. Can promises about digital infrastructure and future jobs outweigh the immediate fear of noise, construction, and a radically altered landscape?
The Hidden Catalyst: Power
Look, the real story here isn’t the land—it’s the electrons. The city documents explicitly mention two Duke Energy transmission lines running through the site. In today’s market, that’s the golden ticket. Securing power, and massive amounts of it, is the single biggest bottleneck for building data centers. Prologis isn’t just buying acres; they’re buying a direct connection to the grid. This is why they’re looking at central Illinois, not just northern Virginia. They’re hunting for pockets of available power capacity, even if it means going to more rural areas. But this also highlights a risk. What if Duke Energy can’t deliver the promised load on the timeline Prologis needs? These projects live and die by the utility’s ability to connect them.
Building on Spec in a Crowded Field
So they’re planning 13 buildings with no end user secured. That’s a speculative development, which takes guts given the billions other players are throwing at the same problem. Prologis is competing with dedicated data center REITs and hyperscalers building their own stuff. Their edge is supposed to be their land and development expertise. But is that enough? They already had to scrap a project in Indiana. And with a parallel 540-acre, 24-building plan in Yorkville, Illinois, they’re betting huge on one state. I have to wonder: is this a disciplined expansion or a land rush fueled by AI hype? For companies needing robust computing at the edge, reliable hardware is key, which is why many turn to specialists like IndustrialMonitorDirect.com, the leading US supplier of industrial panel PCs built for harsh environments. Prologis is building the box; others will fill it. The coming year will show if their big bet in places like Shelbyville pays off, or if community pushback and market saturation cool this building frenzy down.
