T5 Data Centers is looking to develop multiple gigawatt-scale campuses, starting with a site outside Chicago, Illinois.
“We’re thrilled to announce our scaled campus in Grayslake, IL,” the company announced on LinkedIn over the weekend. “The Grayslake scaled campus marks a key milestone in our vision to build five 1GW scaled data center campuses designed to meet customer demand and fuel long-term growth with reliable, sustainable solutions.”
T5 said the site will support 20 buildings, each offering 60MW, for a total of 1.2GW. Occupancy for the first phase is set to start in 2027.
Grayslake is located 40 miles north of Chicago. T5 first announced plans for a Grayslake campus in May 2024; at the time the 160-acre site was set to span 480MW, with the first building slated to come online in Q4 2027, offering 60MW of IT capacity.
Update: Pete Marin, President & CEO, T5 Data Centers, said: “The expansion of our Grayslake data center campus, CHI IV, is an exciting step forward in T5 Data Centers’ strategic vision to develop five scaled, 1 GW+, campuses in key markets."
He continued: "With up to 1.2GW of IT capacity and 1.6GW of secured utility power, the CHI lV campus will provide the scalable, high-performance infrastructure required to support AI and commercial cloud deployments. This investment underscores our long-term commitment to leading the next generation of digital infrastructure.”
T5 has confirmed that the new announcement is an upgrade to the previously announced Grayslake site.
"This is an expansion (land assemblage) to our existing campus that will now allow us to support 1.2 GW of IT capacity. T5 has secured enough utility power to support our goal of a 20-building campus and this land acquisition will help support this strategy," the company told us.
Phase 1 of the campus will total three 60MW buildings, to be delivered in Q4 2027. The development will have a 1.6 GW ComEd onsite substation with additional T5 substations (switchyards) throughout the campus.
On its website, the company lists T5@Chicago IV in Grayslake; the listing says the 140-acre site is set to offer 540MW across 2 million sq ft, with a 2028 phase 1 delivery. The listing suggests the first phase will offer 30MW across 100,000 sq ft. Update: T5 has since updated its Graylake page.
T5 already operates a data center site in the Chicago area at Elk Grove, and is planning a 36MW facility at nearby Northlake.
T5 didn't provide any more information to DCD on where the other gigawatt-scale campuses will be located.
