In what might be a sign that traditional industry is increasingly becoming digital, the developer of an industrial estate is making telecommunications and data processing a fundamental component of its offering.
Traditionally, the priority for industrial estates have been to provide good road and other transport networks. Nowadays, data networks are sometimes even more important to companies of all types – including those in the manufacturing sector.
Bannon Investment Group, which is developing the 85-acre Elk Grove Technology Park near Chicago O’Hare Airport, says the estate will one of the largest of its kind in the US.
Moreover, Elk Grove will be one of the very that will specifically designed with digital manufacturing, robotics and data centres in mind.
The inherent advantage Elk Grove has in this respect is that it is located at the convergence of national fiber optics cables, and Chicago is one of the top three markets in the country for data center leasing activity.
Michael Brennan, chairman of Brennan Investment Group, says: “Opportunities to develop near airports, in major metropolitan areas – and in scale -are virtually non-existent.
“We are confident this will become the most desirable and significant industrial development in the Chicago region, and perhaps in the United States.
“America is experiencing an Industrial Renaissance that is creating both new companies and revolutionizing traditional manufacturers.
“There is an acute shortage of modern facilities in strategic locations that are built in aesthetically pleasing environments. The Elk Grove Village Technology Park will address these needs.”
A company called CBRE will be the exclusive leasing agent for the Elk Grove Technology Park.
Chris Zubel, managing director with CBRE, says: “The focus of this park will be specialized high-tech industrial and clean manufacturing firms.
“With this location and this state-of-the-art product, Elk Grove Technology Park will assure that these firms have a place to grow and flourish.”
