Riverfront Data Center In McKinley Park Revives Expansion Plans But F…

QTS Data Centre's $64bn sector-wide expansion permits lapsed after 120+ days of inactivity, forcing a Chicago re-application amid new local pushback on grid load and environmental impact. The city is drafting data centre-specific environmental standards after a working group found current permit review lacks operational oversight. If you're building AI infrastructure or selling power/cooling to data centres, your biggest constraint is no longer capital or design—it's getting local permits before the grid load pushback hardens into law. Chicago just voided a permit for inactivity; other US cities are drafting mandatory environmental reviews, and $64bn of projects nationwide are already stalled.