US data center firm T5 has broken ground on a new data center outside Chicago, Illinois.

T5 Chicago III
Render of T5@Chicago III – T5

“We celebrated an exciting new chapter as we broke ground at T5@CHI III!” the company said on LinkedIn. “It signifies more than just the start of construction - it’s a step forward in meeting the ever-growing demand for scalable data center solutions. With advanced infrastructure and thoughtful design, the Chicago III site is poised to support the future of digital innovation.”

First announced last year, T5@Chicago III is located at 11650 W. Grand Avenue in Northlake, Cook County, to the west of Chicago. It is due live in 2027.

The company previously said the 36MW facility would be build-to-suit, with the company spending more than $500 million to develop a three-story, 250,000 sq ft facility (23,225 sqm). On its website, Chicago III is now listed as pre-leased.

The company currently operates one Chicago campus, at 200 Innovation Drive in the Elk Grove area. Northlake is around 10 miles away from the company’s existing facility, on the south side of O’Hare airport.

The existing Elk Grove facility was commissioned by Forsythe in 2014, and acquired by T5 in 2016. T5 broke ground on an expansion in 2017 and went live in 2018, buying a nearby 15.4MW data center shell in 2020. The company began the final 20MW phase of the site in November 2022.

T5 is also developing a 480MW data center campus in Grayslake, Illinois. Located 40 miles north of Chicago, the first building is set to come online in Q4 2027, offering 60MW of IT capacity.