SK hynix, PRF offer compromise hours before zoning vote for $3.87B chip site

The proposal is to downzone SK hynix’s initial site so there’s ‘no net increase in industrial use’ north of Kalberer Road. West Lafayette City Council expected to vote Monday evening.

(Image: SK hynix)

Hours before the West Lafayette City Council is scheduled to vote Monday on a controversial zoning request that would line up SK hynix’s preferred site for a $3.87 billion semiconductor facility, landowner Purdue Research Foundation has agreed to downzone neighboring land initially set aside for the South Korean company’s plans.

The move – contingent on PRF getting industrial zoning approval Monday for 121 acres north of Kalberer Road, between Yeager Road and County Road 50 West – includes a promise to ask to reduce zoning on 90 acres west of Yeager Road from the heaviest industrial uses to a zone designated “office/research.”

That area west of Yeager Road was SK hynix’s initial spot and has since been referred to as Site A. The second site, up for rezoning Monday, has been dubbed Site B.

“This decision to seek a downzone of Site A is a direct result of consultations with our West Lafayette neighbors, city council members and stakeholders, and the three information sessions we hosted over the past month,” NK Kim, senior vice president of SK hynix West Lafayette, said in a joint release with PRF Monday afternoon.

“Listening intently to the feedback and suggestions received, we are pursuing this solution to rezone Site B and downzone Site A as it ensures no net increase in industrial use in the area,” Kim said. “It is our sincere hope that this compromise meets the approval of City Council and the community.”

Among the criticism of the rezoning request for SK hynix is that would pile zoning for two heavy industrial parcel next to each other – 90 acres west of Yeager Road and 121 acres just to the east – and just across from a handful of West Lafayette residential subdivisions.

Whether PRF’s announcement would tamp down outcry from neighbors in nearby residential subdivisions who have gathered more than 2,600 signatures on petitions and already won a one-month delay in the city council vote wasn’t clear.

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And the same goes for whether it will offer some comfort or assurance for city council members, who have been largely undecided in the most recent surveys about their pending vote.

The West Lafayette City Council is scheduled to meet at 6:30 p.m. Monday to consider the rezoning request, in a meeting already coming with guidelines laid out for expected overflow crowds.

West Lafayette Mayor Erin Easter, who has backed SK hynix’s plans and the proposed location, said Monday that the suggestion had been one floated during some of the community meetings SK hynix hosted in the past several weeks, since asking the city council to delay the vote so it could address mounting public pushback.

“I think it is a concession on PRF’s behalf and something that shows that they're serious about safeguarding the community and listening to the community,” Easter said. “Which has been a something that has been asked of quite a bit.”

SK hynix announced plans for its R&D and advanced chip packaging facility – a site that would stack and assemble microchips into high-bandwidth memory for a burgeoning AI market – in April 2024. At the time, it was touted as the largest economic development investment in Indiana history.

The South Korean company initially was pegged for Site A, 90 acres on the west side of Yeager Road, a quarter-mile north of Kalberer Road, on land already zoned for heavy industrial uses. Earlier this year, PRF brought a request to rezone land on the other side of Yeager Road, indicating that SK hynix found that property more conducive to its needs.

What followed was an Area Plan Commission vote of 9-5 recommending against industrial zoning for the Site B, as neighbors – including some Purdue researchers in semiconductor field who had factored into recruiting SK hynix – said the chip facility didn’t belong next to University Farm, Amberleigh Village, Arbor Chase and other nearby neighborhoods, community centers and parks.

A month ago, NK Kim, an SK hynix senior vice president and head of Neuron Project Management Office working in West Lafayette, had called the pause a “humbling opportunity” for the company, understanding that “we should have taken a more proactive approach and sooner to engage with our community.”

SK hynix officials also said they hoped to land some of the 143 suppliers expected to follow on land near the facility, including on its initial Site A. Kim said SK hynix hoped for an ecosystem of businesses that would be essential to the facility, with some best suited immediately nearby.

“We’ve heard clearly from our neighbors about their priorities for the future of our community,” Jeremy Slater, vice president of real estate and partnerships at PRF, said in a release Monday afternoon.

“This proposal reflects a thoughtful approach that respects the community’s vision and supports responsible development in the park,” Slater said. “By committing to rezone Site A to office/research and seeking to rezone Site B for SK hynix, we aim to provide an additional buffer for nearby neighborhoods and address concerns about industrial expansion. We will work with city council to make this plan a reality.”

According to PRF, a request to rezoned Site A, west of Yeager Road, from industrial to office/research could go to the Area Plan Commission as soon June.

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FOR MORE

Here’s coverage of Saturday’s third and final community meeting hosted by SK hynix since April 11.

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WHAT’S NEXT

CITY COUNCIL VOTE MONDAY: The West Lafayette City Council will meet at 6:30 p.m. Monday at city hall, 222 N. Chauncey Ave. Doors to the council chambers will open at 6 p.m. The council chambers – the renovated gym at Morton School/Morton Community Center – has capacity for 120 people. Seats will be reserved for those presenting Purdue Research Foundation’s rezoning request and those presenting other items on Monday’s city council agenda. The rest will be available to the public. Overflow accommodations in city hall will be available in the Bean Room (capacity: 80), the Art Room (capacity: 65); and the Dance Studio rooms (capacity: 86). The meeting will be streamed online at: https://www.westlafayette.in.gov/government/office-of-the-clerk/agendas-and-minutes-352. For more information, the city released the following guidelines about how overflow crowds can participate in public comment that night.

Q&A SITE FOR SK HYNIX’S PLANS: The South Korean semiconductor company and Purdue Research Foundation last week released a website with their plans for a $3.87 billion R&D and advanced chip packaging facility expected to open for production in 2028 and eventually employ 1,000 people in West Lafayette. The FAQ offers SK hynix’s answers to questions raised recently about site selection and the company’s approach to environmental, waste handling, traffic and other issues. According to the company, the website will include additional content in the coming days. For now, here’s a way into a page about “Project Neuron,” which was the code name used when recruiting SK hynix to the Purdue Research Park: neuron.prf.org/

NEIGHBORS’ PETITION: Neighborhood groups continue to circulate a petition against the rezoning plan going to the West Lafayette City Council. Here’s a look at the petition.

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