Blue Island Mayor Fred Bilotto said Tuesday he opposes data center developments at the former MetroSouth Hospital and the Libby, McNeill and Libby building, after saying for months he could not take a stance on such development.
Bilotto said a data center would not maximize jobs, economic impact and long-term community benefits, standards he said best serve the community.
“I have an obligation to treat every property owner fairly,” he said. “That said, being fair does not require us to be without a vision for Blue Island’s future.”
The mayor’s opposition comes after property owners Builders Capital sent a letter to the city offering to demolish hospital buildings and exchange the hospital property for the city-owned Libby property, where they said they want to build a data center, Bilotto said.
The owners told the city earlier this year they wanted to build a data center at the former MetroSouth Hospital, although no formal plans were submitted.
But plans changed after residents publicly opposed the plan at an April meeting and booed a person claiming to represent the owners in May. That representative said there were not any viable options that would provide the required financial performance needed to support a loan repayment.
Bilotto said the city received a letter from the owners after that meeting, offering to develop a data center instead at the Libby, McNeill and Libby building, farther from the heart of downtown.
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But Bilotto said he opposed data center development at both sites.
He said the former hospital property, 12935 Gregory St., deserves a development that generates activity, opportunity and investment because of its proximity to downtown, neighborhoods, businesses and schools.
The hospital was the city’s largest employer before it closed in 2019, and residents have stated they prefer that the building continues serving the community.
Builders Capital acquired the hospital property when previous owner, Lockwood Development Partners, foreclosed on the property in March. Lockwood proposed converting the site into a senior living facility, but failed to repay $44 million in loans to Builders Capital, and the capital company took over the site, City Administrator Thomas Wogan said in April.
Bilotto said the Libby property is a valuable asset to bring more jobs into the area, which he said a data center would not do.
“The Libby site has the potential to become a world-class industrial or logistics development capable of bringing hundreds of jobs and significant economic activity,” he said. “That potential should not be dismissed lightly.”
The Libby building, 13636 S. Western Ave., was transferred to the city under an agreement in April 2025 after years of legal battles and building code violations. The five-story, 500,000-square-foot building, which sits on several acres in Blue Island, was named one of Illinois’ Most Endangered Historic Places of 2024 by Landmarks Illinois, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving the state’s architectural heritage.
Wogan said that in 2025 several developers expressed interest in the property and said the city planned to begin exploring options to revitalize the site.A few residents also spoke Tuesday in opposition of data center developments in Blue Island.
Marie Mindeman said she would like to see more small businesses, a physician center, a radiologic imaging center and a lab testing center instead of a data center.
“We are a community of families and small businesses thriving beyond anybody’s expectation in the underfunded, underserved South Side communities,” she said. “For decades, we’ve been overlooked by economic development, but Blue Islanders persist.”
Bilotto said city officials do not know the future of either property but aim to make decisions that best serve residents for decades to come.