Western Hospitality Partners Plans Major Data Center Campus Near Peoria, Illinois

Western Hospitality Partners Plans Major Data Center Campus Near Peoria, Illinois

January 26, 2026

Western Hospitality Partners (WHP) is advancing plans for a significant data center campus on a 320-acre site in Pekin, Illinois, just south of Peoria, as the demand for digital infrastructure continues to push development into new markets beyond traditional hubs. This move highlights the ongoing geographic expansion of the data center industry driven by the needs of hyperscale cloud providers and artificial intelligence workloads.

The project involves a portion of a larger 1,000-acre parcel known as the Lutticken Farm, which the City of Pekin agreed to acquire last year for a technology park. WHP holds a land option agreement for the 320-acre segment, with the final sale contingent on project feasibility and community alignment. Pekin Mayor Mary Burress emphasized the preliminary nature of the deal, stating the city holds "only a land option agreement, which would be exercised solely if the project proves feasible and aligns with the community’s long-term interests." A town hall meeting is scheduled for March to discuss the development, which has already sparked local opposition.

This is one of two known Illinois projects linked to WHP, with another, larger development near Braidwood currently paused due to energy transmission constraints. The company has an extensive portfolio of proposed data center campuses across the United States, though many have faced regulatory hurdles or community pushback. Notable projects include a withdrawn $6 billion, 267-acre campus outside Louisville, Kentucky; a proposed 186-acre, multi-building campus in Archbald, Pennsylvania; and two large-scale proposals in Indiana totaling over 1,300 acres with a potential power capacity of 750 megawatts.

The planned Pekin campus underscores the strategic shift by developers to target regions with available land and power capacity. However, its progression will serve as a key test for community acceptance and infrastructure readiness in secondary markets, factors increasingly critical for the industry's growth trajectory as primary markets face saturation and power limitations.

Source: datacenterdynamics