A large data center in the northeast corner of the 12th Ward is looking to increase its footprint with the construction of a new building to store digital data for companies across the nation.
QTS Data Centers team members explained the expansion plans at an August 26, 2024, community meeting hosted by 12th Ward Alderwoman Julia Ramirez at the McKinley Park branch of the Chicago Public Library.
The QTS Data Center, at 2800 S. Ashland Ave. just north of Chicago's Stevenson Expressway, will almost double the size of its current facility with a new building on the north side of its 30 acre site near the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal.
Data and Administrative Spaces
“The new facility will have an estimated 465,000 gross square feet,” said William Drew, 12th Ward chief of staff.
“The building will consist of 366,000 square feet of critical white space and 99,000 square feet of support administrative space, where they would support additional QTS, tenant, and contract employees,” he said.
U.S. and Netherlands
QTS provides space for multiple tenants to store digital data, representatives said. The company has more than 60 data centers in operation or under development across the United States and northern Netherlands. Its customers include leading hyperscale technology companies, enterprises and government entities.
The data center also supports digital payments via credit cards, online banking and social media platforms.
Ramirez Supports Expansion
Ramirez said she supports the expansion plan because QTS “has been a good neighbor. They took over the Sun-Times printing plant when it closed in 2017 and have built a beautiful river walk on its property.”
QTS said part of the plan is to extend the river sidewalk along the front of the property on South Ashland Avenue and across the street to connect with the river walk on the east side of Ashland. The river walk will remain open during construction.
City Sign-Offs
Before construction begins, QTS must amend its planned development plan with the City of Chicago, which may take up to 12 months. Both the Chicago Plan Commission and the Chicago City Council must approve the amendment of the existing Planned Development No. 553.
The Department of Planning and Development is also reviewing the project and will provide feedback to QTS, Drew said.
Construction is expected to start in the third quarter of 2025 and last about 18 to 24 months. Approximately 350 to 500 union construction workers will build the new center. QTS said it will work with Ramirez and the general contractor to place local residents in some of the jobs.
Screen Wall With Mural
QTS said it will build a 25-to-35-foot perforated screen wall to hide its equipment from the canal. It plans to put a mural on the screen wall. QTS said it will engage with local residents for mural ideas, and possibly hire a local muralist to complete it.
The primary drivers for the expansion are use for artificial intelligence, ecommerce, entertainment and social media, and other Internet-connected uses, QTS said.
Although the firm would not reveal the amount of investment it would make into the expansion project, recent building permits for the property show projects totaling millions of dollars in costs.
A video of the meeting and presentation is avaiable on Facebook.
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