Stream Data Centers: Our Chicago Data Center is Open!
Stream’s Chicago data center is open for business. The first phase of the provider’s freshly constructed facility in Elk Grove Village, Chicago is now fully commissioned. Construction began in November of last year to convert a powered shell into state-of-the-art, raised-floor, turnkey hyperscale space.
When fully complete, the data center will feature 15-megawatt capability and 127,000 square feet of space, including 70,000 square feet of data hall space. The Chicago facility marks Stream’s sixth and second in the Midwest alongside their twin campus in Minneapolis – with a seventh on the way in Virginia.
Attractiveness of the Chicago Data Center Market
Over the last few years, many regional and national data center operations have been pushing past the boundaries of Chicago’s metropolitan core. The wider area is now the third largest data center market in the United States, as well as the third busiest for modern data center construction. Elk Grove Village makes a prime location for peering and interconnection in the Chicagoland area because of its close proximity to Chicago’s downtown core and international airport.
“Expanding into Elk Grove Village is an important move for Stream,” says Rob Kennedy, the company’s Co-Managing Partner. “Chicago has long been among the most important data center hubs in the country. Stream has been pleased with the quality of the labor force, central location, and access to key carriers and cloud providers available in Elk Grove Village.”
This geographical advantage couples with a financial one, as Illinois’s competitive power supply pricing features the smallest increase in average electric prices nationally. Kennedy notes that low energy costs and generous Illinois state tax incentives will continue to drive investment in the Chicago data center market.
The tax incentives are part of Illinois’ new economic development legislation aimed at creating IT and construction jobs in the state. The state plan involves tax exemptions for the building of new data centers as well as equipment purchased by data center tenants.
Key Benefits of Stream’s Chicago Data Center
The data center design for Stream’s new facility also fits with their progressive energy efficiency policy, focusing on renewable energy for the future of mission critical hyperscale computing and data processing. Other key benefits data center users will enjoy include:
- The data center is on the Chicago smart grid, rated 2nd lowest in the country for outage durations, and top 10% for electric reliability.
- Stream’s Chicago network and cloud services optimize network connectivity design for low-latency applications, adaptable bandwidth requirements and public cloud optimization.
- Multiple carrier rooms allow network and physical diversity access all the way to the hardware level.
- The data center offers customizable office and built-to-suit requirements for hyperscale tenants looking for heightened control and flexibility.
Find more information on Stream’s new, hyperscale Chicago data center and other locations here.
