An Aurora City Council committee recently approved final plans for a second Cyrus One campus just to the north of its current facility.
Aldermen on the Building, Zoning and Economic Development Committee approved the final plans last week for two new, 350-foot-high towers, a 411,000-square-foot building and another 150,000-square-foot building along one side of the entrance from Bilter Road to Interstate 88.
Cyrus One is a major, national data center with a facility at Eola and Diehl roads. That facility holds operations of the former Chicago Board of Trade and Chicago Mercantile Exchange, now known as CME Group.
In a separate announcement, CME Group and Google have announced they will be part of building a center for financial trading systems in the new Cyrus One facility in Aurora.
It will be rented to CME customers, across Diehl Road from CME’s data hub, which is the center for the world’s leading marketplace for futures and options.
The Aurora City Council had already approved the preliminary plans and a zoning change for the property, which meant final approval could be done by the Building, Zoning and Economic Development Committee.
The new campus is being built on property the city once intended for a different kind of economic development – commercial and possibly hotel uses.
That was the thought in 2008 when the city spent money to help get what is called the Eola Road interchange to I-88, even though it does not actually go directly to Eola Road. Eastbound I-88 exits onto Diehl Road, and westbound I-88 exits onto Bilter Road.
That westbound access bisects part of the Butterfield development, with 60 acres to the east and 30 acres to the west. Endeavour Edge is building a large data center campus on the 60 acres, and Cyrus One will build on the 30 acres to the west.
The city and Cyrus One have signed a redevelopment agreement worth a little over $15.5 million to the city to pave the way for the new development.
The city spent about $8 million on the interchange in 2008, which in today’s money is more than $13 million. The city spent another $787,500 in soft costs in 2008, which in today’s dollars is about $1.23 million.
slord@tribpub.com
