IT integrator Forsythe Technology announced plans to build a 220,000sq ft data center in Elk Grove Village, Illinois (just outside of Chicago).

The company will use the building to provide data center space as well as house its technology evaluation center, integration and configuration center, as well as its executive briefing center. Forsythe plans to move all three from its headquarters in Skokie, Illinois, once the new building is complete.

Like a typical data center provider, the company will offer data center suites to tenants in the building, but will give each tenant control over cooling and uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems. Forsythe is essentially offering features normally available from wholesale providers in suites that are smaller than the typical 10,000 sq ft or bigger wholesale product.

Albert Weiss, president of the newly formed subsidiary Forsythe Data Centers, said, “Forsythe’s facility offers the flexibility and agility of the retail data center market, in terms of size and shorter contract length, with the privacy, control and density of large-scale, wholesale data centers.”

The company calls this offering “Retail+.” Client footprint in a typical retail colocation data center can expand in cabinet-size or 100 sq ft cage increments, while wholesale pods are typically between 5,000 sq ft and 10,000 sq ft.

Forsythe’s Retail+ suites are expandable in 1,000 sq ft increments. It plans to offer five-year leases, unlike month-to-month or up-to-three-year commitments available from retail providers or 10-year wholesale leases.

Its clients will have the option to choose between power densities of 200W per square foot and 300W per square foot.

The company plans to design the facility to meet LEED standards and to apply for Tier III certification from the Uptime Institute.