West Lafayette City Council considers rezoning for $3.8 billion chip plant

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WISH) — The West Lafayette City Council on Monday night is considering a proposal to rezone land in the city to allow a chip manufacturing plant to be built in town.

South Korean chip manufacturer SK hynix wants to spend more than $3.8 billion to build an advanced chip-packaging facility in West Lafayette. These are the types of chips needed in phones, tablets and computers.

News 8 first reported on the project when it was announced in April 2024.

According to West Lafayette government documents, the land is zoned R3 for single-family, two-family and multifamily residential. SK hynix is asking for a change to I3 for industrial development.

A Tippecanoe County document defines I3 as, “To provide areas for industrial activity, contracting, warehousing and wholesaling, that are heavy in impact because more than just loading activities are conducted outside –and associated retail and service establishments and agricultural activities as identified in the Permitted Use Table.”

A rezoning petition, filed by the Purdue Research Foundation for the project, was recommended for denial by the Area Plan Commission in March. The construction site is north of Kalberer Road between Yeager Road and Tippecanoe County Road 50 West.

People have voiced concerns about the risks to their health and the environment if land that is zoned as residential is rezoned to allow an industrial computer chip facility to come to the area.

SK hynix originally planned to put this chip manufacturing facility on land — called Site A — bordered on the east by Tippecanoe County Road North 100 West/Yeager Road, and Kalberer Road on the south. That land is ready for industrial use.

Now, the company wants to use a piece of land — called Site B — across Yeager Road because it is larger and has better road access to minimize traffic. That piece of land is bordered on the west by North 100 West/Yeager Road, and North 50 West on the east. The southern border will be just north of West Lafayette Fire Station No. 3 off Kalberer Road.