A bevy of political, business and labor leaders gathered Wednesday on the far East Side in Aurora to officially jump start a major economic development project.
The officials praised the work of state and local government leaders with business officials to bring about the new Cyrus One, a two-building facility on one side of the entrance to Interstate 88 at Bilter Road, just west of Eola Road.
Among those in attendance were Gov. JB Pritzker, Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin, Cyrus One CEO Eric Schwartz and Gil Quiniones, CEO of ComEd utility company.
They broke ground on a 411,000-square-foot building and a 150,000-square-foot building that has two 350-feet-high towers that will house a partnership between Cyrus One, a major data center corporation, CME Group — the one-time Chicago Mercantile Exchange — and Google.
The buildings will be home to financial trading systems from CME customers. CME’s own data hub is currently operating in the Cyrus One data center at Eola and Diehl roads, just north of the new one where the ground breaking was Wednesday.
Officials said the Cyrus One expansion, coupled with developments like the Edged Electric data center just east of Cyrus One, is what makes Illinois the third-largest data center market in the U.S., and the fifth-largest in the world.
“This is another pillar in the future forward economy we’re trying to build here in Illinois,” Pritzker said. “It’s sustainable economic growth, the kind we can pass on to our children.”
Irvin pointed out that once built, the company will contribute $1.1 million a year in property taxes, and another $1 million in utility taxes, or a total of about $20 million over the next 10 years.
“The impact won’t just be felt today, it will be felt for years to come,” Irvin said.
The new development will cost about $350 million, bringing the total investment Cyrus One has made in Illinois to about $1 billion, Schwartz said.
“With the potential to grow from there,” he said.
He praised the policies supported by both the state and local governments with facilitating that kind of investment. Specifically, both Schwartz and Quiniones praised a data center tax credit that was part of the Illinois Capital Bill passed by the state Legislature and signed by Pritzker five years ago.
“The governor believes that the best kind of success is a shared success that benefits all communities in Illinois,” Quiniones said.
Also attending the event were U.S. Rep. Bill Foster, D-Naperville, state Sen. Linda Holmes, D-Aurora, and state Reps. Barbara Hernandez, D-Aurora, and Stephanie Kifowit, D-Oswego.
The Aurora City Council earlier this year approved the plans for the Cyrus One expansion on property that was once earmarked for hotel and retail types of uses. That was the thought process at the time the city and the Illinois Toll Highway Authority built what is known as the Eola Road interchange, which actually utilizes both Bilter and Diehl roads.
Aurora officials said because development patterns have changed, the data center use is a more compatible one for the land around the interchange. The city and Cyrus One negotiated a deal in which the company paid Aurora $15.5 million to compensate for the change in land uses.
The ground breaking Wednesday was symbolic since the project has already started. Officials praised the union workforce that is expected to have construction done in two years.
“These folks are well-trained, so you know when a project is finished, it’s first class,” Pritzker said. “We’ll be back here in two years for a ribbon-cutting.”
slord@tribpub.com
