Microsoft buys another 30 acres to expand presence in Hoffman Estates
Microsoft has purchased 30 acres in Hoffman Estates adjacent to the 53-acre site where it plans to build a pair of 207,000-square-foot data centers, village officials said Tuesday.
The new acquisition includes land long owned but long undeveloped by Meijer, as well as a 250,000-square-foot spec industrial building that Amazon planned to use as a distribution center before its expansion plans changed last year.
Hoffman Estates hasn't yet received any specific proposals for the land's use, Economic Development Director Kevin Kramer said. Nevertheless, village officials are glad to see the company increase its local investment.
"They've been awesome to work with," Kramer said.
The shovel-ready site has the potential to add to Microsoft's data center capacity at that location, but how much so is dependent on what kind of strategy the company adopts, he added.
A representative of Microsoft could not be reached for comment.
The physical connections required between data centers as well as the efficiency in providing security for them makes the choice of site ideal for any expansion of Microsoft's plans in Hoffman Estates, Kramer said.
One obvious question about the existing industrial building is whether it could be retrofitted to Microsoft's needs or would be demolished to make way for a more customized use.
A ComEd substation is being designed to serve Microsoft's 53-acre campus on Lakewood Boulevard, just north of Bell Works Chicagoland. Only the first of the two already approved data centers is currently under construction.
The strip mall and outlots along Barrington Road won't be affected by Microsoft's land purchase, Kramer said.