Data Center Registry
Microsoft Northlake Data Center
Northlake, Cook County, Illinois · All 45 Microsoft sites · Every Microsoft case on our tracker
Microsoft Northlake Data Center is an operating data center in Northlake, Illinois (Cook County), operated by Microsoft. The public record puts it at 15 acres, a reported $388 million investment.
Every line on this page traces to a public source listed at the bottom. Where a figure was looked for and not found, the row says so. A blank is never a zero.
Facility record
Operating
- Operator
- Microsoft
- Facility type
- Data center
- Location
- 601 Northwest Avenue, Northlake, Cook County, IL, 60164
- Coordinates
- 41.9231, -87.9183
- Power capacity
- Not established from a public source
- Land
- 15 acres
- Investment
- $388 million
- Announced
- Not established from a public source
- Utility
- Not established from a public source
- Power source
- Grid
- Cooling
- Not established from a public source
- Water use
- Not established from a public source
- Jobs
- 20 permanent
- Public subsidy
- Illinois Data Center Investment Program, $24 million, Illinois, 2021
- Community reception
- No reception on record
- Source confidence
- Confirmed by multiple independent sources or official documentation
Timeline from the record
Newest first. Record entries come from the filings and reports the registry cites. Coverage entries are headlines from publisher feeds we monitor daily, linked to the outlet; last checked September 14, 2026.
- September 12, 2026OperatingTwo-phase facility totalling roughly 707,000 sq ft, in service since 2009 and subsequently expanded under a 2021 state MOU. Source: Baxtel
Opposition and litigation at this site
Nothing on record as of September 12, 2026. No lawsuit, organized opposition, or contested hearing over Microsoft Northlake Data Center in Northlake, Cook County, Illinois appears in the sources this registry tracks. That is an absence in our sources rather than a finding that none exists, and local opposition often predates any coverage a national dataset would pick up.
If you live near this site and something is happening that this page does not show, that is worth telling us. Send us the document and it goes in the record with the source attached. For sites where opposition is already established, see every contested site we track.
Power and water
Three 66 MVA on-site electrical substations reported to provide a total of 158 MW of utility power.
Public money on the record
| Program | Amount | Granted by | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois Data Center Investment Program | $24 million | Illinois | 2021 |
Notes on the record
Microsoft's Azure North Central US site at 601 Northwest Avenue, Northlake. The 158 MW figure is reported utility supply capacity from three on-site substations, not an IT load, so it is recorded under energy notes rather than capacityMw. The Aligned ORD-01/ORD-02 buildings already tracked sit on the same street but are separate operators and parcels.
What the record does not establish, and the document that would
In every fight on our tracker the decisive fact came out of a public records request. These are the requests for this site.
- Power capacity in megawatts
- Cooling method and water use
- How the community has received it
- Which utility serves it
Which document closes each gap
- Power capacity in megawatts
- The utility's large load service agreement, the interconnection request in the grid operator's queue, or the electrical site plan in the permit file.
- Cooling method and water use
- The water service agreement, any groundwater appropriation permit, and the mechanical narrative in the site plan.
- How the community has received it
- Planning commission and governing body minutes, public comment records, and any petition or lawsuit filed in the county.
- Which utility serves it
- The electric service agreement or the utility's filing with the state public utility commission.
Have one of these documents? Send it to us and we will add it to the record with attribution.
Other sites within 30 miles
Distances are between recorded coordinates, many of which are a city or county centroid, so treat them as approximate. Cumulative load on one utility and one aquifer is the question a planning commission rarely asks.
- T5 @ Chicago III (Northlake) · Northlake · T5 Data Centersunder 1 mile · Under construction · 36 MW
- Aligned ORD-01 · Northlake · Aligned Data Centersunder 1 mile · Operating · 48 MW
- Aligned ORD-02 · Northlake · Aligned Data Centers1 mi · Operating
- Element Critical Chicago Two · Wood Dale · Element Critical4 mi · Operating · 5 MW
- Element Critical Chicago One · Wood Dale · Element Critical4 mi · Operating · 7 MW
- CyrusOne Wood Dale Campus · Wood Dale · CyrusOne5 mi · Under construction · 18 MW
- Centersquare ORD2 (Elk Grove Village) · Elk Grove Village · Centersquare (Csquare)5 mi · Operating · 25.9 MW
- Digital Realty CH2 · Elk Grove Village · Digital Realty5 mi · Operating
Questions people ask about this site
Is there opposition to the Microsoft Northlake Data Center in Northlake?
Nothing on record as of September 12, 2026. No lawsuit, organized opposition, or contested hearing over Microsoft Northlake Data Center in Northlake, Cook County, Illinois appears in the sources this registry tracks. That is an absence in our sources rather than a finding that none exists, and local opposition often predates any coverage a national dataset would pick up.
Has anyone filed a lawsuit over the Microsoft Northlake Data Center?
No lawsuit over Microsoft Northlake Data Center appears in the record we track as of September 12, 2026. Residents most often reach a lawyer over water supply, well drawdown, noise from cooling plant, property value, or a rezoning approved without the notice the ordinance required. If any of that is happening near this site, it is worth a review whether or not a case has been filed yet.
How much water does Microsoft Northlake Data Center use?
No water withdrawal figure for Microsoft Northlake Data Center is on record here. Water use is rarely published voluntarily; it usually surfaces through a utility service agreement or a state withdrawal permit, both of which are public records. We leave the number blank rather than estimate one.
Who operates Microsoft Northlake Data Center, and how big is it?
Microsoft is the operator on record. We hold 45 sites for that company across the registry. No capacity figure is on record for this site. The site is recorded at 15 acres.
How to cite this page
SueDataCenters.org Data Center Registry, "Microsoft Northlake Data Center," updated September 12, 2026, https://suedatacenters.org/data-centers/microsoft-northlake-il.
Facility data from Compute Atlas (E. Kubiak), version 1.32.0 (September 7, 2026), licensed CC BY 4.0, record https://www.compute-atlas.com/facilities/microsoft-northlake-il, retrieved September 14, 2026.
Corrections with a public source are welcome at the Compute Atlas record or through our contact page. The whole registry is available as CSV and JSON under CC BY 4.0.
Sources for this record
As compiled and cited by Compute Atlas, with our own reporting appended. Archived links are used where the original has moved.
- 1.Data Center Investment Program 2025 Annual Report, Microsoft Corporation, Northlake (2021 MOU, $388,134,927 commitment, 20 new jobs) · Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity · retrieved September 12, 2026
- 2.Microsoft Chicago Northlake Data Center · Baxtel · retrieved September 12, 2026
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