Real estate firm Karis is potentially targeting a new data center development outside Chicago, Illinois.

The Naperville Sun/Chicago Tribune reports that Karis Critical is considering the purchase of the 168-acre INEOS property, formerly the BP campus, at 150 W. Warrenville Road in DuPage County, to develop a data center campus.

A memo seen by the publication – and confirmed by Karis to the Sun – suggests the company briefed local officials on Karis’ plans for the site at a meeting last month and was seeking feedback.

Karis spokesperson Patrick Skarr told the Sun that the company requested the meeting, but noted discussions are in an early stage, and no plans have been finalized.

“We have no pending proposal for the 168-acre campus,” Skarr said. “We’ve made no decision about whether to pursue an investment in the corridor or not … we still are not the owner of the property. We don’t have rights to propose anything on the property. We’re just exploring it.”

Karis’ proposal could reportedly see a 125,000 sq ft (11,613 sqm) data center developed, alongside more than 1 million sq ft (92,903 sqm) of manufacturing space.

Naperville is located west of Chicago, which is Illinois’ largest data center hub. According to the Illinois Economic Development Corporation, the 186-acre INEOS site currently has 27MW of potential grid capacity, expandable to more than 100MW.

The Naperville R&D complex was previously operated by US oil and chemical firm Amoco, dating back to the 1960s/70s, and later taken over by BP after a 1998 acquisition.

BP sold its petrochemicals business to Ineos in a $5bn deal in 2020, with the campus part of the deal. CBRE was tapped to find a buyer for the Naperville site in 2021. JLL is currently listing the site.

Karis was previously looking to develop a data center in Naperville on the site of a former Alcatel-Lucent campus, but was denied by local officials after backlash from residents.

Karis Critical describes itself as an investor in land, energy, and infrastructure for data centers. The company is developing a data center in DeKalb, Illinois, and is known to be targeting sites in Ohio.

The company’s website lists potential projects in Aiken, South Carolina; New Albany, Ohio; DeKalb, Illinois; and Birmingham, Alabama.