Chicago is a close second to Seattle and Portland for the metro with the most data center construction activity. Construction costs associated with a new data center are high and the investment for IT infrastructure can be two to three times the amount to build. Demand for data center space in Chicago has been particularly high from west coast technology companies and banking and financial services. This increased supply of square footage has been mostly located in the suburbs while the downtown market has seen a significant shortage of turn-key colocation space.

1. Chicago
Chart of the week: October 26, 2015
Source: JLL Research
Chicago’s ranked second most active region
for data center development
• Chicago is a close second to Seattle and Portland for the metro with the most data center construction
activity. Construction costs associated with a new data center are high and the investment for IT
infrastructure can be two to three times the amount to build.
• Demand for data center space in Chicago has been particularly high from west coast technology
companies and banking and financial services. This increased supply of square footage has been
mostly located in the suburbs while the downtown market has seen a significant shortage of turn-key
colocation space.
0 50,000 100,000 150,000 200,000 250,000 300,000 350,000 400,000
Seattle & Portland
Chicago
Silicon Valley
Northern Virginia
Houston
Dallas
Phoenix
Las Vegas & Reno
Austin & San Antonio
Atlanta
Data Center square footage under construction