Purdue President Mung Chaing announced the historic $3.7 billion SK Hynix partnership in April 2024.The U.S. Department of Commerce announced $458 million in funding through the CHIPS Act for the advanced packaging fabrication and R&D facility planned for West Lafayette. Photo by Kelsey Lefever, Purdue University.

News Release

WEST LAFAYETTE — After weeks of public debate and months of community outreach, the West Lafayette City Council has approved a rezoning request critical to advancing SK Hynix’s $3.87 billion semiconductor packaging campus in partnership with Purdue University.

The council voted 6-3 early Tuesday morning following a seven-hour public meeting that drew strong opposition from local residents and ultimately spurred a key development compromise from SK Hynix and the Purdue Research Foundation.

SK Hynix, one of the world’s leading microchip manufacturers, announced in April 2024 that it would build its first U.S.-based advanced semiconductor packaging facility at Purdue Research Park. The 430,000-square-foot facility is expected to create more than 1,000 jobs by 2030 and serve as a hub for next-generation high-bandwidth memory chip development — key components in graphics processing units for artificial intelligence applications.

The project, viewed by federal and state leaders as a strategic win in domestic chip manufacturing, is supported by up to $458 million in federal CHIPS Act funding and $700 million in Indiana state incentives, the largest such economic development package in the state’s history.

To move forward, SK Hynix required the city to rezone a 121-acre site from residential to heavy industrial use. The proposal sparked significant community opposition, including a petition with more than 2,700 signatures and calls from residents to relocate the project farther from residential neighborhoods. Concerns included potential air and noise pollution, traffic congestion, transparency, and land-use compatibility.

In response, SK Hynix and the Purdue Research Foundation announced a compromise on Monday, revising plans for an adjacent 90-acre parcel originally intended for industrial supply chain partners. Under the revised plan, that land will now be developed for office and research uses rather than heavy industry. The City Council approved the related rezoning 8-1 shortly afterward.

Jeremy Slater, vice president of real estate and partnerships for the Purdue Research Foundation, said the compromise directly responded to community feedback and would reduce the amount of industrial development in the area.

The public meeting drew overflow crowds at City Hall, with hundreds of residents in attendance and many more gathered outside. Of approximately 90 speakers during the public comment period, the majority spoke in opposition, including Purdue faculty members who raised concerns about environmental and health impacts.

SK Hynix and Purdue officials held three community meetings prior to the vote and maintained that the selected site, adjacent to the 750-acre Purdue Research Park, was the only viable location in West Lafayette. A change in site, they said, would significantly delay the project and threaten federal CHIPS Act funding.

Despite ongoing public concern, council members cited the economic opportunity and national significance of the project in their decision to approve the rezoning.

The SK Hynix campus is expected to open in the second half of 2028.