Prime Data Centres breaks ground on Chicago data centre campus

Author: Beatrice

Prime Data Centres has announced that it has broken ground on its $1bn Chicago data centre campus at 1600 East Higgins Road in Elk Grove Village, Illinois. Prime ORD will deliver more than 750,000ft² and 175MW of capacity at full build-out, creating the largest data centre campus in Greater Chicago. ORD-01, the first of three planned campus data centres, will be marketed to major cloud providers, global internet businesses, colocation companies, and the Fortune 500 enterprise as a single-tenant, hyperscale data centre.

“On behalf of everyone at Prime, I would like to thank Elk Grove Village and the numerous contractors and team members involved in readying ORD-01,” comments Nicholas Laag, Chief Executive Officer of Prime Data Centres. “The partnership between Elk Grove and the data centre industry has led to unprecedented growth and positive economic impact. Looking ahead, we will continue to partner with forward-thinking governments, executing on an aggressive, multinational expansion plan that will establish Prime as the data centre foundation for the global proliferation of content creation and cloud solutions.”

“I couldn’t be happier to welcome our new neighbours at Prime Data Centres to Illinois as they break ground on their Chicago data centre campus,” says Governor JB Pritzker. “We aren’t just the heart of the Midwest – we are a national leader in innovation and business growth, in large part thanks to companies like Prime. From the outset of my administration, I have prioritised attracting companies in the rapidly growing data centre industry. Thanks to those efforts and our reputation as a global tech hub, we have 15 operating data centres investing more than $4.6bn in our communities – all while creating hundreds of jobs. This data centre brings with it economic opportunity at every turn – for residents of Elk Grove, greater Chicago, and throughout our great state. Congratulations to the entire Prime team on this extraordinary feat.”

The official ceremony was held on 15 November, and featured guest speakers such as Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson, as well as executives from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and project partners ComEd, Clune Construction Company and Gensler.

“Prime’s presence in Elk Grove Village validates our unique position as a hub for data centre operators. We welcome Prime to Elk Grove Village, not as tenants, but as partners in every sense of the word,” says Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson. “While we know that our infrastructure suits Prime’s needs, we also know that they will find success here in Elk Grove because we both share a drive to innovate and thrive. We are looking forward to partnering with Prime so we can support their continued growth here in Elk Grove Village.”

Elk Grove Village’s tax incentive plan and increased regional demand created a unique opportunity for Prime Data Centres. Prime ORD-01 will deliver 384,000ft² and up to 72MW of much-needed capacity to the tightened market. The facility will be highly energy efficient and built to the exacting availability, connectivity and power density requirements of today’s most prominent cloud brands.