Chicago Committee Advances Landmark Data Center Conversion
Chicago's Commission on Chicago Landmarks Permit Review Committee approved an initial proposal on Aug. 6 to convert floors two through six of 300 W. Adams St. into a data center. The Sun-Times reports that the landmarked Loop office building would add a ComEd power vault and 10 rooftop backup generators, while final approval remains with the full commission.
Chicago's Commission on Chicago Landmarks Permit Review Committee gave initial approval on Aug. 6 for a proposal to convert floors two through six of the landmarked office building at 300 W. Adams St. into a data center. The full Commission on Chicago Landmarks must still approve the project, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Chicago investor Igor Gabal is pitching the conversion for the 12-story building, which received city landmark designation in 2009. The Sun-Times reports that an affiliate of Gabal bought the property for $4 million in 2023, when the building was nearly 60% vacant, according to material reviewed by the Permit Review Committee.
Proposed power and building changes
The proposal includes a new ComEd vault on the ground floor and 10 backup generators on the roof, the Sun-Times reports. Gabal told the committee the vault would be no more than 50 megawatts, while the building's marketing material advertises a 20.4-megawatt medium-voltage vault. The source does not establish whether those figures represent the same operating capacity measure.
If the full commission approves the project, existing office tenants would be consolidated on the upper floors. The proposal also calls for infilling the building's light court on floors three through five. According to the Sun-Times, Gabal's team told the committee that the ground floor was the only viable location for the vault because of its size and proximity to incoming power.
Committee staff recommended approval with changes including placing data center equipment at least three feet from historic windows. Staff stated that their review was limited to the proposal's conformity with historic-building alteration guidelines, even as they acknowledged broader concerns about data centers, the Sun-Times reported.
Preservation opposition and a changing office market
Preservation Chicago Executive Director Ward Miller characterized the proposed conversion as a "dangerous precedent" for historic downtown buildings, according to the Sun-Times and The Real Deal. The Chicago Tribune editorial board also opposed the project, arguing that the city should halt it before final approval. Those views are editorial and preservation-group assessments, rather than a determination by the landmarks commission.
Gabal told the committee that "no one wants to lease space" in Class C buildings such as 300 W. Adams, the Sun-Times reported. The Real Deal described the proposed reuse as part of a broader effort to adapt underused downtown office space, while noting that downtown data centers remain uncommon.
The site differs from the large suburban or rural campuses that dominate public debate over data-center electricity demand. Here, the public record centers on how substantial electrical infrastructure, standby generation, and interior server use can be accommodated within a protected 1927 office building. For infrastructure practitioners, the two capacity figures in public materials underscore a routine due-diligence issue: electrical-service, IT-load, and facility-design capacities need to be distinguished before comparing a proposed urban deployment with a hyperscale campus.
The next substantive decision is the full landmarks commission review. Approval by that body would address historic-preservation requirements, not resolve every permitting, utility, or construction question associated with the conversion.
Key Points
- 1Chicago's landmarks committee advanced a partial data-center conversion, but final approval remains pending before the full Commission on Chicago Landmarks.
- 2The proposal combines floors two through six with a ComEd vault and 10 rooftop backup generators, making power infrastructure central to review.
- 3Comparable urban conversions often require separate validation of utility capacity, facility electrical design, and actual IT load before deployment comparisons.
- 4Preservation opposition places historic-building alteration constraints alongside the broader debate over data-center energy demand and urban redevelopment.
Scoring Rationale
This is a locally significant data-center infrastructure proposal that illustrates the constraints of deploying high-power computing capacity in dense urban buildings. It is relevant to facility, power, and site-selection teams, but remains an early-stage conversion rather than a completed major deployment.
Sources
Public references used for this report.
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