ROCHELLE — Rochelle City officials and developers held a public meeting Tuesday to discuss plans for a 300,000-square-foot data center on a 124-acre industrial site south of I-88, which would use up to 50 megawatts of power and a closed-loop water cooling system. The project, led by Zach La Motta of LFF Industrial with partners including Midwest property owner John Favia, would occupy 5 to 10 acres of the site, create 25 to 35 permanent jobs with salaries averaging $85,000, and generate 500 to 800 temporary construction jobs.
Around 40 residents gathered in the Rochelle City Council chambers to hear more information from La Motta.
“ This was the first, biggest step obviously, we were asked to participate and we said, yes, immediately. Community engagement is a big part of the real estate development world, and it’s something that I think is always valuable. We’re not looking to hide anything,” he said.
Infrastructure plans were presented, including an express electric feed, roadway and utility improvements funded entirely by the project, and detailed coordination with city staff on zoning, water, wastewater, and fiber optic access. The development is projected to provide $30 to $50 million in recurring utility revenue, $1.5 million in annual property taxes under enterprise zone incentives, and additional permit and utility tax revenues without raising rates for residents.
“We’ve been talking and working hand in hand with the city for a year and a half. And we’re happy to have any conversation, participate in further conversations. From now until, this thing hopefully kicks off. We have open lines with Jeff, the city manager. We have open lines with Rochelle Municipal Utilities Adam Blake, Pat and we’ve been actively talking with Tom Demmer from Economic Development. And even before that we had or originally connected with Jason Anderson. So this has been a fairly long process and we’ve been in active communication with the city since July of 2024,” La Motta noted.
Rochelle City Manager Jeff Fiegenschuh said the development would follow all environmental and safety regulations and would require city council approval of a development agreement, which could be as soon as next month, depending on if LFF Industrial has found a tenant for the site.
”Our hope is the first meeting in December, but again, until we’re comfortable with it, maybe January,” Fiegenschuh said. “This is just a development agreement. They don’t even have anybody selected yet. It could be nine months to a year before they even recruit somebody, and several years before you even see ground broken.”
