A data center development is in the works in Chicago, Illinois.

As reported by The Real Deal, Lincolnshire-based developer Scott Greenberg is moving forward with data center plans in the Near South Side region of the city.

The $40 million privately-funded project will look to convert a two-story building on a former truck-trailer parking lot site at 2500-2540 South Wabash Avenue into a 76,000 sq ft data center.

The facility is set to accommodate research institutions, universities, and government agencies.

It will feature seven backup generators and a large fence to prevent onlookers, as well as a small coffee shop of the ground floor.

The project has an estimated 18-month timeline, but a construction date has not yet been provided.

The site was previously zoned by Greenberg for a 108,000 sq ft esports stadium, but plans fell through.

Greenberg first bought the land in 2020, paying almost $7 million in two transactions for the property.

Greenberg said: “Even government uses have a need for small facilities because they can be more secure and control them more than they can in some mammoth data center, so there’s a role for this small version.”

Gensler Architects, Terra Engineering, Power Construction, and Thornton Tomasetti all comprise Greenberg's team on the project.

Chicago has a well-developed data center market, with the likes of Digital Realty, Centersquare, Iron Mountain, Stream, CyrusOne, NTT, Prime, CoreSite, DataBank, ColoCrossing, EdgeConneX, Cogent, Stack, Microsoft, ColoHouse, Edged, AWS, Meta, Compass, Lumen, and Equinix all having a presence in the city.

Most recently, Stack Infrastructure announced it would be expanding its footprint in Chicago with a 36MW data center in Elk Grove Village.