Data center and AI infrastructure teams in Chicago

CBRE counted 706.8 MW of data center capacity under construction in Chicago in H1 2026, 645.6 MW of it preleased (North America Data Center Trends H1 2026, August 27, 2026). In the same report of August 27, 2026, CBRE put Chicago’s year-over-year growth in capacity under construction at 190%, the largest of its eight primary markets.

Gigawatt-scale campuses are planned southwest of the city. On March 19, 2026, Joliet City Council gave the Joliet Technology Center permission to annex its site. PowerHouse Data Centers will develop it as 24 two-story buildings offering up to 1.8 GW at completion (Data Center Dynamics, March 24, 2026). Tract is building the infrastructure for a 1-gigawatt campus on 343 acres in Morris, with initial energization targeted for June 2028 (Bisnow, January 27, 2026). CBRE reported on August 27, 2026, that Aligned Data Centers is planning a 1-GW campus in Coal City.

The established suburbs are still adding capacity. CBRE reported on August 27, 2026, that Microsoft leased Compass’ campus in Hoffman Estates. In 2025 the state signed incentive agreements in Elk Grove Village with Oracle America, EdgeConneX and others (Illinois DCEO, Data Center Investment Program 2025 Annual Report).

Inside the city, Block Club Chicago listed Related Digital’s planned one-gigawatt facility at 8080 S. DuSable Lake Shore Drive among projects in various stages of approval and development (August 12, 2026).

Illinois has paused its data center incentive program. Governor JB Pritzker directed the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) to pause processing agreements under the Data Center Investment Program starting July 1, 2026 (Office of the Governor, June 5, 2026). He said existing agreements, including those entered into before that date, will be honored. The governor’s release gives no end date.

Lawmakers return to Springfield on November 17, and the pause continues while lawmakers, utilities, labor unions, environmental groups and industry representatives negotiate (E&E News, June 5, 2026). As of October 1, 2026, the POWER Act had not passed, though advocates hoped it would advance in the fall veto session (Capitol News Illinois). This is a developing story: we read these sources on October 11, 2026, and will review this page after the veto session.

Power is the other constraint. In June 2026 ComEd had nearly 100 data center requests in its pipeline that would draw more than 30,000 megawatts if all came to fruition, nearly 1.3 times higher than its historic peak (Capitol News Illinois, June 5, 2026). PJM forecasts data center demand in ComEd’s territory growing by 10.7 GW by 2035, though not all projects are guaranteed to come online (Capitol News Illinois, October 1, 2026). Bisnow reported on March 23, 2026, that under an Illinois Commerce Commission order, the financial security ComEd requires for infrastructure build-out would rise, often by tens of millions of dollars.

Local rules are tightening. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order in August 2026 placing new rules and reviews on data centers (Block Club Chicago, August 12, 2026). His administration is also pushing for a moratorium on new or expanded data centers, which would need full City Council approval. Plainfield adopted a 180-day pause on data center applications in April 2026 (Shaw Local, April 21, 2026). Lake County has a moratorium, and Aurora replaced its 180-day moratorium with noise, water efficiency and energy efficiency standards (Chicago Tribune via GovTech, June 29, 2026).

The build-out needs large construction crews. The Joliet developer estimates its campus will create between 7,000 and 10,000 construction jobs, with construction starting in late 2026 or early 2027 and taking up to five years (Bisnow, March 23, 2026). An Illinois Economic Policy Institute study reported by Capitol News Illinois on October 1, 2026, projects 121,000 jobs from $57 billion of new data center investment through 2035, most of them temporary, with just 2,800 direct, permanent positions.

Labor terms are built into the state program. Under it, the owner or operator must require its contractor to enter a project labor agreement approved by DCEO, according to the department’s 2025 annual report on the program. The study reported by Capitol News Illinois on October 1, 2026, found that thirteen projects in 2020 and 2021 created 8,000 construction jobs with wages over $100,000.

Operators are hiring for build and commissioning roles now. In ads we read on October 11, 2026, Microsoft listed a Commissioning Manager, a Construction Project Manager and a Metro Build Program Manager in Chicago. In ads read the same day, Equinix listed a Commissioning Director, a Commissioning Senior Manager and a Senior Construction Project Manager for data center customer fit-out, with Minooka among its locations. Equinix also lists Chicago among the locations for a SkillBridge data center technician trainee cohort for service members moving to civilian work (Equinix careers, read October 11, 2026).

Any new program in the metro will compete with these employers for the same commissioning and construction leads. Market mapping shows who holds those roles across the metro before a search opens.