QTS Realty Trust plans to open its new data center in Chicago, in a former newspaper printing plant, around June 2016.

The new facility, first announced in 2014, will have 133,000 sq ft (12,000 sq m) and 24MW of capacity, with capacity to expand considerably. It is being built in a former Chicago Sun-Times newspaper print and distribution plant, and Chicago’s climate has enabled the company to adopt air cooling for the site, the company announced at the DCD as-a-Service event in Chicago.

Mega data center

”It uses an air cooled system, so we are excited about that,” said Butch Goldi, QTS VP and general manager at DCD as-a-Service. “It’s going to be a gorgeous place.” QTS’ other facilities have tended to use chilled water cooling.

The building can be increased to 400,000 gross square feet with a raised floor capacity of approximately 215,000 square feet and 37MW of power. The site has access to long haul fiber networks, and will be on show from about March of next year. 

QTS paid $18 million for the 30 acre Sun-Times site, which had been vacant since it closed in 2011. The company plans to invest more than $200 million there, supported by tax incentives with a reported value of $11.4 million. 

Chicago will be one of what QTS describes as its “mega data centers”. The compaqny also offers a integrated services platform of custom data centers, colocation and cloud-enabled systems infrastructure.

QTS has been on the expansion trail lately, buying Carpathia Hosting.