M+H Architects, working with mission critical facilities expert, Ascent Corp. and the developer, Koman Group, recently completed a more than $500 million, 550,000-square-foot data center for Microsoft, located in Northlake, Illinois, outside of Chicago. Northlake Data Center is the most powerful data center development in Chicago and one of the most powerful data center developments in the U.S. The Chicago facility sprawls over more than 12 acres located in direct proximity to a city water pumping station, significant fiber optic bandwidth along adjacent Interstate and rail lines, and its own on-site electric substation. With 40MW(2N) or 80MW(gross) of power available, and readily expandable to 60MW (2N) or 120MW (gross), Northlake supports thousands of computer servers that process internet activity and network services for Microsoft. The center will probably employ no more than 75 people to operate the servers.